The Promise
by MaddCricket
Summary: Making a secret promise to find a wife within the year, Severus is all but forced to persue Hermione Granger.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Yay! You found my new story! It's a Songfic inspired by When in Rome's 'The Promise.' Also inspired by Beedle the Bard's 'The Warlock's Hairy Heart'. I guess you can throw some 10 Things I Hate About You/Beauty and the Beastish feels in here as well...but basically The Promise is what set this one off. Votes make me happy, Reviews make me happier! I hope you all enjoy!

...

"You really think anyone would love a greasy git such as yourself?" Lucius snorted, "Face it, Severus. You're beyond any hope, old, ugly, and your personality is as charming as a troll in captivity."

"Ouch, Lucius. That was a little uncalled for, don't you think?" Severus grinned in jest. He'd heard it all before, Lucius being the first one to remind him in any situation of his celibate and loner life. He grabbed the bottle of fire whiskey as Lucius slid it across the table, his fingers sweeping at him, a silent order to drink more. He was in one of his jovial moods, whatever turned it on this time hadn't been brought up, but seeing as Severus had no other plans for the night, let Lucius talk him into visiting the pub. It wasn't long before Narcissa had found them, Draco following closely behind. Severus had been hoping for just a guy's night of only Lucius and him, but had no room to protest. If his wife and son had wanted to be present, it was Lucius' greatest honor to have them by his side.

"Your mother would be disappointed." Lucius said. "Look at you, nearing your prime years, you should be settled down, enjoying a family."

"You leave my mother out of this." Severus said, using the finger of the hand that held his glass to point at him.

"And you leave him alone." Narcissa added, slapping Lucius' arm lightly. "The poor guy knows what he wants."

"I'm only suggesting he experience love before its from a Medi-Witch in a retirement home visiting for his weekly bath." Lucius said in defense. He filled his glass again and settled back into his booth, wrapping his arm around Narcissa and kissed her temple quickly. "In all honesty, I'm actually surprised no witch has taken advantage of you yet-"

Severus opened his mouth to protest, but Lucius raised a hand and continued before he had a chance.

"-now hear me out, you're name isn't unheard of in our world, surely an Order of Merlin First Class has brought you some suitors, has it not? Despite your lanky appearance, you aren't repulsive, your ingenious is intoxicating and I'm sure you have a hopeless romantic heart waiting to present itself somewhere within your drab wardrobe."

"Unlike yourself, my fame in this world is not what drives me, nor will it be the deciding factor of who I decide to woo when, and if that time comes, and furthermore," Severus raised an eyebrow, "I could easily land a wife within the year of it's in my interest."

"Could you now?" Lucius' face lit up, he leaned forward, pulling Narcissa with him.

"Indeed I could." Severus stated matter-of-factly . He threw back the liquid in his glass, smacked the empty glass on the table, and noticed that Lucius had drawn his wand. He eyed it with curiosity, noticing Narcissa had covered her eyes with a tight hand and shook her head slightly.

"Lucius, just let him be." She mumbled, dropping her hand to her mouth. He paid her no attention, only pointed his wand directly at Severus.

"Would you make a promise-No! A secret promise, that within a year, you will find a wife so that maybe I can get some sleep at night without having to worry about your lonely future?"

"Severus, you don't have to do this." Narcissa added. Severus looked from her, back to Lucius.

"If the promise is broken?"

"Then you shall court my neighbor."

Severus thought of the new family who had taken the lot just north of him a few months ago. He had only seen them upon visiting the Manor, and had been under the impression that the couple had been married. Lucius seemed to note his confusement and specified.

"Peesy."

Severus' face fell. Draco snorted in laughter and Lucius nodded.

"Dorine Peesy."

Dorine had lived alone in the lot next to Lucius since before he had taken it over. She was too skinny, wore pants that cut off above the ankles with the most ghastly socks anyone had ever seen, her shoes squeaked, her hair was stringy and always in a bun, her skin looked infested with Dragon Boils and for the lack of a better term, smelled of old lady though she was only a decade older than him. He'd sooner consider Trelawney a suitable life partner than her.

"What do you say? If you're so certain you can whisk some lucky lady off her feet in a year, this should be no contest."

"Severus." Narcissa looked at him sadly, knowing already that she couldn't talk him out of it. Draco had settled down into a giggling fit, watching everything happen. Severus pulled his wand and crossed it with Lucius'.

"I promise that within a year I will find a wife." Severus said.

"...Or..." Lucius egged him on. Severus took a shaky breath.

"...Or I will persue Dorine Peesy."

Their wands vibrated, glowing in a bright pure light that illuminated their whole table before flashing out quickly. The promise was made, and though breaking it wouldn't lead to death, it would make the latter part true no matter how hard he would try to resist. Pocketing their wands, Lucius filled four glasses and raised it.

"May you succeed!" He toasted. Severus only sipped this drink unlike Lucius and Draco who had slapped theirs back with purpose.

"Who will the lucky woman be?" Lucius mused. "Has your list changed at all since our childhood? Smart, red hair? Resembling Lily in the most ridiculous of ways?"

"Preferable." Severus nodded. "But believe it or not, I have accepted her death and prefer to not speak of it."

"Lily?" Draco asked, inching closer to the table. Severus shot him a warning look, but Lucius explained.

"Believe it or not, our dear Severus had it quite bad for a Gryffindor."

Severus' eyes flashed dangerously as Lucius spoke. Draco pressed for his father to continue, but a heavy elbow shove into his ribs had him changing the subject quite quickly. Severus shot Narcissa a thankful look.

"So this list. What does it consist of now?"

"She'd have to be intelligent." Narcissa spoke. Lucius nodded in agreement.

"Indeed." Severus attuned. "Intelligent, beauty that would make any man envious, and I would hope she could afford her own weight. I don't expect to be the sole bread maker, she'd have to work just as hard as I do."

"Certainly. There's nothing more attractive than a woman who can hold her own. What about purity? I think she should be full-blooded, it would add deeper concentrations of great magic for your offspring."

"That would not matter. As long as she had wit and brains enough to match with mine, we'd do just fine raising the next generation of respected wizards."

"Sounds like your expectations are quite high." Narcissa said. "Are you sure you can find such a witch and marry her in a year?"

Snape inhaled a large breath, held it for a count of three then let it out slowly.

"I'll have to start looking." He said. "Hard."

Draco spoke, listing off the attributes on his fingers as he went over them again.

"Beauty, brains, bloodline doesn't matter...you know who you just described?" He smirked, watching as Severus shook his head. "Hermione Granger."


	2. Chapter 2

The musical tones of glass clinking together softly drifted from the box Severus carried in both hands in front of him. It had survived the apparation - the toughest part of the journey - and was almost to its destination. Needing a break from teaching and children, he had gladly taken up brewing. It allowed him to live comfortably at home, accepting who he would do business with, and who he would deny without being ordered to do so, and not to mention had a cozy impact on his Gringots account. St. Mungo's had been his largest customer, though their orders tended to be small; they requested rare potions from him, of which finding the ingredients for was always a lengthy search. The apothecaries around town had asked him to prepare raw ingredients and make some starting bases, which he gladly did and would replace those once a week. He had a few debutante-like families that had heard his name by referral and had been easy to gain Galleons more than he would normally charge all because of his reputation.

Madame Pomfrey, however, was the only person on his list that he neither turned down-even if he hadn't the space for more cauldrons or had to handpick the ingredients from the top of a mountain- or charged as she had saved him from death countless of times. It was the least he could do. Her orders were simple; pepper up potion or something to calm a coughing fit, and she never seemed to order more than was really needed. She would also call on him right when he'd start to second guess his exodus from teaching, right when he started to miss the wonder of a student making a delicate potion correctly all under his instruction. Returning to the school, even just the smell of juvenile essence had the idea of returning flying away faster than a Nimbus 2000X.

The snow had yet to fall, but the biting chill in the air suggested it was on its way. Severus quickened his pace as he stepped through the gates to Hogwarts, hurrying into the building. He may have never admitted it, but the older he got the less he cared for cold weather, preferring warm summer nights over the fridgid temperatures. The heat inside the castle warmed him instantly and he made his way up to the infirmary.

A few students were in the beds, a boy looking worse for wear; his face was swollen and red, appearing three times larger than it should have been. Pomfrey had been attending to the boy, her back toward the door so she didn't see Severus enter, or sense him as he crept closer to look at the boy over her shoulder.

"What did we learn here?" She asked the boy who answered in muffled hums and hisses, unable to form words. "Don't you forget it." She mumbled back at him, forcing him to lie down on the bed, then turned around nearly smacking into Severus as closely as he had stood.

"And you should know better than to stand so closely while I'm working. I'm a busy woman, Severus. A busy woman. I need my space." She chided him. Severus took a few steps back, watching as she went to the other bed, this one inhabited by a girl. She appeared fine, but the longer Severus watched, the more he began to notice that her head was beginning to swell. Her features were slowly thinning out, growing flat; nose spreading over her cheeks which were already as large as apples, her eyes becoming nothing more than wide circular wafers that looked to have been painted on her face, her mouth disappearing into an almost invisible slit. By the time her ears were molding into the sides of her swelling head, he had looked away growing repulsed by the sight and searched for a place to set his delivery. An empty bed was the closest surface to him, and after his hands were freed, began to creep to the door. He had wanted to leave before Pomfrey got the crazy idea to-

"Severus!" Minerva had blocked his exit, forcing him back into the room by grabbing an arm, pulling him back to the bedside he had just snuck away from.

"Have you any idea?" She asked Pomfrey who had only grunted and shook her head. Minerva squeezed Severus' arm, and he tried picking at a few fingers, but she did not release.

"They just started puffing up out of nowhere, Severus. Have you any insight?" She asked. He stared at her blankly for a moment as she watched the girl on the bed who was attempting to blink her eyes, but getting nothing more than an eerie wobble to her head.

"I'm not a professional therefore my opinion is irrelevant to the situation, but if it is the way to retrieve my arm, might I suggest one of Weasley's candies as the culprit?"

"Their heads would have shrunk back to normal size by now if it were." Hermione spoke softly as she entered the room, Severus swallowed his annoyance, though he succeeded in freeing his arm. He shoved his appendages as far into his robes as he could, feeling it would protect him. He found himself staring at Hermione as if her own head had swelled, and she took it thinking he was asking for an explanation.

"George snuck some on Bill when he visited last summer. The effect lasted maybe thirty seconds before returning to normal shape."

Severus continued to stare. "Maybe it was a bad batch." He added dryly.

"Or maybe it is something else entirely." Hermione remained stubborn, defending her friend's infamous candies hated by all the Hogwarts staff. His arms crossed of their own accord, defensively over his chest and slowly he felt a glare begin to develop, but knew it hadn't of been from her pressing the matter. Beautiful, she was and he already knew her intelligence surpassed most witches her age, he realized that she had seemed to lose all regard toward him. She had been obedient for what he recalled, the one student he would openly trust to complete any task he might have given without any fight. It seemed the years between their last meeting had her forgetting how intensely he could stare, how cold a single glimpse could make her feel. For some reason, she wasn't backing down as he gave his best mugging.

"If you don't believe me, we can always obtain some to try. I'm quite positive George would love to help your nose to head ratio." She had mumbled the last bit, but it came out clearly.

"I'd much rather shrink my nose to fit my face." He retorted. Hermione looked amused and even Minerva who had been standing quietly behind them enjoyed the banter. He turned back to the girl, looked her over once and smirked.

"Perhaps they're learning so much from Miss Granger, their brains are growing far too quickly." He allowed his glare to soften realizing the opportunity that had risen. Their first meeting in years, especially for him, could not end on a bad note. He couldn't afford spoiling any chance of comity that may develop. It would have been easy enough to disregard her as easily as he used to, but eager to remain true to the promise he had made knew she had to see the side students, previous students included, never got a chance to see. He allowed the corners of his lips to raise, nodded curtly and wandered to the door.

He had made it so far as the entry hall, when his feet had stopped working, sticking to the ground as Minerva called after him. Knowing she would have found him one way or another, remaining to let her speak with him now sounded less painful than it would be to welcome her into his home and play host for as long as she saw fit.

"I'm glad I ran into you, I've been meaning to owl. We will be needing a substitute for a few days in the coming months for the Dark Arts class and assumed you'd be interested?"

"No." His answer was quick, sharp, causing Minerva to pout slightly. He cleared his throat and rephrased. "I appreciate your thinking of me, but unfortunately, I will have to decline. My business is keeping me quite busy and I simply can't fit the time to teach wormless brats into my schedule."

"Oh. Very well." She sounded disappointed, using that tone that effortlessly brought on feelings of guilt. His eyes narrowed.

"I'll see what I can work up." He uttered in defeat.

"You'll feel right at home." She patted his arm. "I'm certain you will."

He noticed Hermione had followed her, keeping herself halfway hidden behind the Headmistress. Snape inclined his head toward her.

"Congratulations on achieving your assistant position, Miss Granger."

She filled out their circle, and gave a nod of thanks. Minerva had sent him updates every once in a while, and had explained of putting Hermione in a part time teaching position. He had half expected the girl to be covering for Professor Flitwick as she had shown remarkable ability in it. Transfiguration was just as suitable, however, and he knew she had been Minerva's first choice for the position when teaching and running a school became too much for her to bear.

"Thank you. I'm enjoying it very much."

"She seems to have your teaching style." Minerva added with pleasure. "Most of her fifth years are N.E.W.T ready, we're expecting great things."

"Indeed." Severus looked pleased while Hermione looked rather embarrassed. "I will have to come audit a class sometime."

"Oh God." Hermione breathed. Minerva let out a chuckle.

"We have our Christmas Ball coming up in a week, Severus. You're more than welcome to join." Minerva gave another one of those looks that instantly made him accept, though his stomach filled with dread. He was pretty sure this was her way of obtaining extra babysitting duties without having to ask it of him.

"I'd be honored." He tried not to sound too reluctant, and if he did, Minerva paid no attention. Her face had lit up like lights on a Christmas tree just then and motioned to Hermione, pulling her a little closer into the group.

"Why don't you and Miss Granger attend together?"

"Oh, I'm...I um, it's fine, I'll be fine attending alone, Headmistress. No need to pawn me off on-" she stumbled over how to call Severus, going through a calamity of 'S' and 'P' sounds, finally deciding on "Mister Snape."

Severus once again curled his lip. Another opportunity had been opened, albeit forced upon him just as the damn promise had been, but he nodded casually.

"It would be my pleasure." He answered, once again forcing himself to not sound too reluctant. Hermione's face scrunched up, obviously confused by his acceptance.

"I wouldn't want you to feel obliged." She said, but Severus only shook his head.

"As much animosity as I may have showed you, you are now a colleague and as such, an equal." He bowed his head. "I would love to chit-chat further, however, I do have a schedule to keep and I'm afraid I'm already running behind. Minerva. Miss Granger." He gave his pleasantries, then turned, praying they'd let him leave this time without any further interruption.


	3. Chapter 3

He really did look old. Aged. The man that looked back from him in the mirror was not the youthful soul he should have been. War really did a number, giving him wrinkles and a permanent scowl that only deepened as he stared back into his own black eyes. Were they really that black and lifeless? Was his hair really that stringy and greasy?

"I should cancel." He said, puffing out his cheeks then let the pressure out with a sigh. "I should just face the reality of the situation and consider myself done for."

"Anyone would be better than Dorine." Lucius added, appearing in frame over Severus' shoulder. Thoughtfully, Severus pulled himself upright, straightened out the neck of his dress robes and turned around, arms spreading to his sides.

"How do I look?"

"What's this? Severus Snape conscious of his appearance?" Lucius lifted his chin, amused as Severus dropped his arms and sent a scowl to him.

"It's been years since my last date, can you blame me for wanting to appear presentable?"

"Oh it's a date now, is it?"

Severus grew red faced and started for the top buttons of his robe, undoing them quickly.

"No." He spat. "You know what? Forget it. I'm not going."

Lucius laughed, smacking Severus' hands away from his robes and started redoing the buttons he had ripped open.

"You're going." Lucius reiterated. "And you'll like it."

"I won't like it." Severus growled. "Surrounded by horny-driven dunderheads. Forced to be an extra set of eyes...that's all I am, you know."

Lucius placed his hands on Severus' shoulders and looked him straight in the eye.

"Just turn a blind eye to all the going-ons and concentrate on the task at hand."

Severus chewed on his cheek as he considered that option. It wasn't like Minerva had asked him to help out. She had invited him as a guest, not given him a duty. Turning, he admired his reflection once more.

"Granger isn't your only option either." Lucius reminded him. At this, Severus seemed to relax a little and twisted his neck uncomfortably. He had realized this already, but hearing it come from another helped remind him. His only fear was not being able to find someone else who matched up to his list. He was stubborn in wanting.

"She isn't." He agreed, inhaling quickly. "But she is the most readily available."

Lucius stood for a while, watching Severus as he smoothed his hands down his front and adjusted the ends of his sleeves.

"What's your plan?" He asked. Severus looked at him through the reflection.

"My plan?"

"Yes, your plan. You show up, then what?"

"I show up, then..." He hadn't given any thought to what should happen next. He figured he'd just let everything play out. Lucius rubbed his face, sighing.

"You're going to show up, compliment on how nice she looks, present her with flowers-"

"-Flowers?!" Severus turned a pale shade of green.

"Certainly. You don't expect your first impression to be compromised by not showing a little detail, do you?"

Severus gritted his teeth. Giving anything other than snide remarks and judgmental glances had been the only thing on his list of things to do that evening.

"I'm to give her flowers?"

"She needs to see a softer side of you." Lucius reminded him, grabbing a few quills from a nearby table and transfigured them into a small, but lovely bouquet of Baby's Breath and white Dahlia's that faded into a deep velvety blue. He handed it to Severus who took it, shoving it into his robes. Lucius gave him his best smile.

"You'll do fine." He said, ignoring the balmy look that took over Severus' skin. "Now go, win your damsel."

...

The exciting sense of magic was in the air, one that which Hogwarts carried on a daily basis, and also one that came from any kind of festivities. It was like electricity had ran through him the moment he entered and only grew as he walked down the hallway, willing the slight tremor he had noticed start in his hands to go away. His breathing became heavy, feeling like the halls had suddenly grown humid and was stealing his very breath straight from him and by the time he turned the corner and saw Hermione standing there unaware of him, his breath had been lost.

She was dressed in a floor length sleeveless gown with a slit that traveled halfway up her thigh, revealing a silky leg. The gown hugged her, showing off the figure that had stayed hidden beneath her school robes, as well as her teaching robes, her hair piled on her head in swirls, leaving a long neck to be graced with a line of shining jewels, and he had to pry his eyes away from her before what he was doing could be considered gawking. Shifting his robes, he pulled the bouquet from them and approached her.

"You're going to show up, compliment on her how nice she looks, present her with flowers-"

Lucius' instructions played in his mind, and robotically he held the flowers out to her, though she hadn't noticed his presence yet.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat. She turned, noticing the flowers first before flashing him a wide smile.

"Youlooknice." He mumbled. Her smile pained.

"I'm sorry?" She asked.

Damnit, Granger. He was certain she heard him, making him repeat his compliment just to make a fool of him.

"You...you look nice." He repeated slower, and her smile returned to normal, her cheeks blushed.

"Thank you." She said softly, taking the small bouquet. "These are very pretty."

Severus nodded, flicking his eyes around the room again so as not to stare, then back at her. He raised a stiff arm that she hesitated taking, and he led the way into the ball. She had gripped his arm so lightly, he allowed himself a quick glance to make sure she was actually holding it. And there it was, her arm hovering above his, just barely brushing his sleeve. How did he ever find himself in this position? Searching the crowded room, they found a table unoccupied, Severus almost forgetting to pull out her chair as she sat down, then took the seat next to her. What next? He pined for Lucius' words of wisdom, but he had not been given instruction on what to do next. She was already picking at the silken table cloth that shimmered a snowy white. He picked up the goblet of punch that materialized in front of him, wishing it was stronger, downed it, then sneered at a group of sixth year Hufflepuffs that stood giggling beside him. They were pointing nonchalantly at a suave looking Gryffindor a few tables over, fawning over him, too timid to approach and when he had made eye contact with the group, they squealed, running off to hide and watch from another corner. Severus groaned at the inappropriate act a couple of seventh years were performing a few yards away at the very edge of the dance floor, knowing if he had any say in the matter, it would have been stopped long before they had a chance to start, and forced himself to look away.

"Disgusting." Hermione said, a laugh to her voice and he saw she had been watching him.

"Very." Agreeing, he shifted uncomfortably and pushed his eyebrows up. "Of course, it wasn't too long ago a certain Gryffindor had snuggled up just like that with the one and only Victor Krum if memory serves me right."

Hermione bit her lip, wincing slightly at the memory.

"I believe we had a little more class than that." She stated. Severus questioned it, then again, any show of affection had churned his stomach. To him, that age had been lost and with it any memory of how his generation may have been worse. They sat again in silence, Hermione drinking from her goblet if only to break the stillness that settled thickly between them. Severus refused the urge to continuously clear his throat from boredom. This was obviously not going well.

"I should do a perimeter check." She said, "You can join if you'd like."

As much as he'd rather sit there and mope in his drink, he stood as she did, this time allowing a foot of space to remain between them. It was a professors duty to walk the outside pathways, keeping a careful eye turned toward dark corners or any welcoming snogging holes. He knew them well from all those nights he had spent roaming the corridors after hours, assigning Filch the great excitement of detention for those students he found that expected to get away with a late night romp.

"Have you given anymore thought to substituting?" Hermione asked when the loudness of the Great Hall had been shut behind them.

"I don't believe I have a choice." Severus replied. Minerva had that motherly effect on him, suggesting something in a way, like taking out the garbage, he couldn't say no to.

"Are you looking forward to it?"

"Honestly, no." They rounded a corner, their sudden appearance breaking apart a couple who scattered in the direction they just came from. Hermione watched them, then nodded, running out of things to say. Out of habit, Severus led the way outside to a corridor that ran along the side of the building. It had started snowing, a blast of cold air hit them. She shivered instantly and he was slow to shrug off his robe, angry that he couldn't make himself forget this gesture, and placed it quickly on her shoulders, scared almost to touch her. She seemed to pause at this action, but continued walking forward.

For the most part, he was embarrassed. Not only was the lack of attraction on either of their sides hindering them, he was clueless with women, and small talk. He had no reason for it, even previously. Any fling he had was a wham-bam kind of thing, stemming from a drunken night at the bar, ninety-nine percent of the time brought on by the woman. He could count on one hand the times he had initiated so much as a conversation with a stranger, let alone someone he only barely knew. His embarrassment carried them halfway around the castle, to a turret. From there, they had to walk down a flight of stairs before they could re-enter the castle, and Severus could make an excuse to part ways. It was a good plan, he thought, just consider the night a flub and try again when there wasn't so much pressure. It probably would have worked too, if not but the third to last stair, when a breeze had fluttered the robe around Hermione's shoulders and caught underfoot, causing her to trip. He reached out, catching her. She reached out, catching him and somehow they managed to get to the landing safely. She was laughing, gripping him as they steadied themselves, but inhaled sharply as she attempted to step away.

"Ouch." Wobbling on her feet, using Severus for balance, she lifted a leg and ripped the stiletto from her foot. "Damn shoes." She cursed, mumbling as she tried to remove the other, but tumbled into him with another grimace of pain. He winced, feeling empathy for her and guided her to a stone bench. Sitting, she examined her foot, rubbing at her ankle, bringing back the laughter. "I knew I was bound to fall tonight. Should have worn my flats, but these went so well with my-" she sucked air through her teeth as her fingers massaged a sore ankle. Severus kneeled in front of her. He took her foot in his hands, a delicate foot he observed, and felt at her ankle. She winced again.

"Sorry." He whispered, drawing his wand. "Twisted, perhaps. Do you mind if I...?" He wiggled his wand in a silent beg of permission. She bit her lip and nodded. The wiggle became a flourish and a soft blue light connected with her ankle. She breathed a sigh of relief as he massaged it lightly.

"Better?" He asked. She nodded, smiling softly. He returned it and let her foot go, raised to a standing position and held out his hands to help her up. She was shorter now without her shoes, a three inch difference, very petite.

"I should just chuck these into the lake." She giggled. "Thank you for...for that." She twisted her foot around, reveling in the painless movement.

"You're welcome." He said. "I could never understand your kind and their fashion sense."

Hermione blushed, and Severus offered his arm, this time freely of his own accord. She gave a slight bow of her head, taking his arm a bit tighter than before, and gripped his cloak tighter to her shoulders with her other hand.

"It might be wise to rest your ankle for the remainder of the night. That spell only works for so long as long as you stay off it." They had entered the castle and began their way back to the Great Hall. Severus had used the spell a few times for his own injuries, and knew quite well the relief never stayed under pressure.

"Well this puts a damper on the night." She pouted slightly, though she didn't exactly sound disappointed.

"We can always visit the infirmary if you'd like. Poppy should have some potion to-"

"-I don't mind." Hermione cut him off. "It would be nice to sit and talk."

A genuine smile hit him at her words. It would be nice to sit and talk. Something he hadn't expected to hear come from her tonight.

"Soapweed." Severus said.

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked.

"Soapweed." He repeated. "Mentioning the infirmary helped me remember. The students with the swollen heads, it may be an allergic reaction to Soapweed."

"Are you admitting to me it isn't one of George's Skiving Snackbox candies?"

"That's always an option. I'm just tossing out ideas."

Hermione snorted, gripping his arm tighter.

"I will make sure to tell Pomfrey of your insight, but I though Soapweed only grew in Spain?"

"It's widely cultivated there, yes, but even the Forbidden Forest has been known to obtain the obscure."

"Oh dear." Hermione sighed. "We were hoping for a term without students sneaking in there, if that's what happened."

Severus laughed. He couldn't hold it back, it just came out of him like a runaway steam engine. Hermione exchanged a puzzled look.

"Battling trolls in the bathroom, Fluffy if I should need to bring him up, late night visits to Hagrid's hut..."

"That was different." Hermione acted offended. "Harry, Ronald and I were helping save the school from impending doom, thank you very much!"

"Oh sure, helping, if that's what you're calling it. Gave the staff nothing but migraines half the time." Snorting, he added just as they reached the Great Hall, "you reap what you sow in karma that is."

She glared at him, playfully of course and allowed him to guide her inside the noisy hall.

A/N: Whew! Got a lot of words there for you guys! Decided to end the chapter here before it became a short novel, lol. Hope you enjoy!


	4. Chapter 4

"I think integration is inevitable. Are we ready for it? Not necessarily, but it will happen." Hermione finished her statement with fervor.

"I'm not saying that it won't happen, but if it ever does, you can bet your grandmothers wand that it won't be welcomed warmly." He sniffed. "The chances of it happening in our lifetime are slim to none. Our Ministry won't allow for it. The other governments aren't exactly encouraging of our kind, let alone hospitable." He groaned when he finished. Hermione had asked his opinion of an article she had read, one that suggested combining Muggles and the Wizarding World. A pipe dream, but there were still too many wizards wary of non-magical folk, and too many Muggles who'd feel their race as superior, consider the magical folk freaks, and begin a world of hate all over again. The conversation had lasted a better part of an hour, Severus realizing that her tongue could be just as sharp and as quick as his. "They don't spend enough time with us to even know what we're like! We hear of our Minister visiting on occasion, but have they ever once shown interest in stepping through our floo?"

"You hold a valid point." Hermione agreed. Severus sighed and pushed his chair back. She looked at him curiously as he stood.

"I'll make a round for you." He would have gladly continued the conversation, but he had caught the worried eye of Minerva for the third time in the past five minutes being aimed at them. He was glad to leave the ball; the laughter of the students beginning to sear his ears, and when he found himself wandering a staircase he noticed that his thoughts had blindly remained on Hermione. He had to admit to himself that he had come to respect her more since the start of the day, though she had still proven to be an insufferable know-it-all through their last conversation. Still, it didn't seem to annoy him as much as it should have. She did have an addicting smile, a warm one that when aimed at him, felt genuine. There were times he found it easy to feel like it had just been the two of them sitting there, not surrounded by juveniles and loud music. The night was turning out to be pleasant and maybe this bet was not that bad at all.

There were voices, angry ones that hit him as he opened a door to travel outside. Two boys were fighting, a girl in tears standing beside them, clapping her hands and demanding them to stop. Severus marched right up to the two who had taken to wrestling on the floor, and pulled on the first robe he could. Yanking him back, Severus glared into a freckle faced red-head wearing a maroon and yellow tie under his dress robes. The other boy, a brown haired boy wearing simple dress robes, scuttled to his feet, reaching out for the one in Severus's fist, but he stepped between them.

"Stop this nonsense immediately." He ordered. All three children looked at him curiously. Severus lifted his chin, eyed each one over his crooked nose, and turned, keeping a tight hold on the one he had grabbed.

"He started it." The boys said.

"It is no interest of mine who started it. Taking you straight to McGonagal where she can sort it out."

The faint whizzing sound of a spell happened before Severus could stop it, and he felt himself zapped. His grip tightened on the boy's robes and he turned, revealing his teeth. The boy looked startled, shocked even, and his skin turned even paler under Severus' eye.

"I...I..." The boy began, but Severus didn't let him finish.

"All of you. With me."

...

He carried the boy, lifting him up so he was barely walking on his tiptoes and entered the great hall. The students all paused in dancing and talking only to look at the group, a few of them laughed loudly, while others sniggered behind their hands. Fingers were pointed, elbows were nudged into neighbors, until the place fell silent, save for the music. Severus marched through, not paying them any attention until he reached the table where Minerva sat, holding the boy at arms length. She was busy looking at food on a plate in front of her, and looked up, smiling, only to have it falter into shock, looking from Severus to the boy, back to Severus. She nearly choked on the bite she was chewing, and rose from her seat, dabbing at the corners of her mouth with a napkin.

"These two boys were found fighting in an upper corridor." He explained.

"We didn't mean to!" The boy in his hand protested.

"I definitely didn't mean to." The boy behind added solemnly.

"Fighting in the-". Minerva had worked her way around the table, and Severus dropped the boy to his feet beside her. He shot him one warning glance, the boy staring in shock back at him. He raised an eyebrow, turning his head back to Minerva, who had put a hand to his face. He raised a hand to swipe it away, but she grabbed it, studying it closely and then looked at the brown haired boy.

"I-I'm sorry." He began shaking, slinking back to escape, but Severus reached out a hand to stop him, grabbed him by his shoulder and dragged him to stand closer.

"I was aiming for Troy, and this man stepped in the way. It wasn't supposed to hit him, honest."

The quietness that had fallen was soon broken when one giggle gave way to many bellowing laughs, and Severus could do nothing more but stand there.

"What is going on?" He asked, growing aggravated up until Minerva grabbed his hand and held it up in front of his face. Then...well then he just became angry. The natural pink of his skin was no more. His hand, fingers, and even his fingernails had looked to be painted a lilac and purple plaid. His other hand was the same, and he found it stuck on him when he attempted rubbing it off. He glanced up and around again, the student body now freely showing their amusement at his cost, he didn't need to ask if the skin on his face suffered the same treatment. He turned, pushing aside those who stood in his path as he made his way to the doors.

"Severus! Severus, wait!" Minerva called from behind him, but he didn't slow. The only thing that stopped him was catching his reflection in a window. Still aged, the thick purple plaid lines traced the few wrinkles around his eyes, the lilac color making him look sickly. He grabbed at his face, knowing very well rubbing wouldn't take it off, but tried anyway.

"Severus." Minerva was nearly at him now, something Severus did not want. He much pined to be alone, away from anyone. Yet, she reached him and turned him around to face her.

"What?" He snapped. She only jumped back a little, pressing her lips together hard enough that it was evident she was hiding a grin. At this he drew himself up, hovering over the Headmistress and narrowed his eyes.

"Go ahead." He said through gritted teeth. "Laugh, I'll give you five seconds to get it out of your system."

"Ridiculing you is the furthest thing from my mind."

Severus rolled his eyes, certain she was fibbing.

"I'm certain Poppy has a remedy." She said. "Why don't we make our way to the infirmary?"

"I'm sure she has." Severus glanced around the hallway. "And I'm certain those idiots will be severely punished, however, I'd much rather heal in the comfort of my own home."

"It'll only take a minute." She said, now frowning as he raised a hand and began to walk away.

"What about Miss Granger?" She asked after him. This made him pause, his stomach sunk at her name. The night had been going so well yet he feared to face the girl as he was. Even after his skin would be cleared, he was positive he saw and how could he remain in good spirits knowing that? Whirling around, Severus took a few long strides back to Minerva, both arms raised.

"What about her?" He asked. He knew very well that Hermione had better sense than to point out the obvious flaw he had developed, but pride had bested him. There was no way he'd be able to let her see him like this, let alone finish the night if he was stuffed in some murky old infirmary.

"She'll be wondering where you are." Minerva clasped her hands together, resting them comfortably on her hip. "Just come to the infirmary, we'll set you right, and you can continue your evening."

"I doubt she's even noticed my absence." He stated soundly. Minerva sighed.

"With an exit like yours, it would have been hard to miss."

Severus, flustered, turned once more and began toward the exit. Minerva gasped, the sounds of her dress robes swishing as she raced to catch up.

"Severus!" She called after him, chuckling. "All in good jest, Severus. I didn't mean it. Severus? Severus!"

He didn't let her stop him this time. In fact, he had half a mind to turn his wand on her, give her and give her the same time, but it would have only kept him there longer.


	5. Chapter 5

A week had passed slowly and with it, an extra strength salve made by Severus had faded the plaid print back to his normal sallow tones. He was sure to keep away from his fireplace, not wanting anyone to believe he had been at home. He just wanted to be alone as he healed, and was thankful that Lucius had waited as long before his unannounced visit had come along. He heard him from the second floor, and grabbing a robe to cover his arms; the only part of him that still held thick purple lines no matter how hard he scrubbed at them, before making his way down. Lucius had already filled a kettle and was placing it on the stove when Severus rounded the corner.

"There you are!" Lucius chimed, grinning. "We've been on tenterhooks waiting to hear about your date."

"It wasn't a date." Severus defended, "and it was a failure. Spent the night patrolling the hallways, broke up a fight that ended in my displeasure and left shortly after." He prevaricated from mentioning the spell, and the fact that he had found Hermione rather enjoyable. Lucius clicked his tongue.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I was hoping the night would be in your favor." He leaned his back against the sink, crossing his arms. "What if Miss Granger? Was she at least well behaved?" He smirked. "Did she warm to you?"

"That is none of your business." Severus lifted a warning eyebrow at him, going to the cupboards and took down two tea cups. "I'm afraid I left a little prematurely without bidding her goodnight, and haven't heard from her since."

"We're trying to find you a wife, Severus. It would do best not to anger her before they get to know you." Lucius looked disappointed. Severus huffed, grabbing the kettle and the tea cups, taking off with them to the sitting room. The fire was blazing and Severus could feel himself weaken under the heat. Lucius looked him over once, and as if he had sensed his discomfort said,

"Aren't you a bit warm? You're in the company of friends, Severus, you can remove your robe."

Severus snarled. He wrapped the robe tighter around him and sat down.

"I'm perfectly comfortable." He willed his skin to hold in the moisture that wanted to seep out already and poured himself a pipping hot cup of tea he didn't really want. He'd drink it, however, if only to spite himself. Lucius studied him carefully, but decided not to press the matter. He stirred his sugar and milk into his cup, sitting back in his chair and changed the subject.

"Our Christmas party is tomorrow. We expect you to be there, of course?"

Severus nodded gravely. For years Lucius had all but expected him to be there, and like always, he couldn't come up with an excuse opaque enough to stay home. The party was never much, never like it used to be after all the Death Eaters had been rounded up or receded into hiding. Now it was just a glorified block party, neighbors and a few friends that gathered for a feast.

"Dorien should be there." Lucius teased, grinning over the rim of his cup. Severus' lip raised of its own accord and he took a mouthful of tea to keep himself from saying something he shouldn't. Lucius laughed.

"You're welcome to bring someone. We'd even tolerate Granger just for your sake."

"That's very generous of you." Severus felt himself begin to sweat. Not from the pressure, but of the heat. Yet his arms revealed his stripes, and he refused to let Lucius see them, knowing the taunting that would follow would never end. He set his cup down hoping that in ridding one source of heat, he'd be able to remain stolid.

"Only just. To be honest, I have no other choice, Narcissa has been on me and Draco is thoroughly looking forward to seeing you two together."

"Sure." Severus snorted. "Your wife may be sincere, but Draco may only wish to turn a fool into the both of us."

"Oh come now, Severus. Draco is on your side as much as the rest of us. You know he'd never do anything to publicly humiliate you."

"Publicly humiliating me is out of the question. It's Granger he'd be after and if I'm to keep company with her, it would, in turn, backlash on me."

Lucius laughed heartedly.

"One can try to ease you, but I'm afraid your mind has fallen into a rut."

The flames in the fireplace flashed green, catching their attention immediately and Severus rose, reluctant to get closer to the warmth of the fireplace. A face appeared, blurred at first, then settled into an unmistakable flickering of Hermione. His stomach flopped, but he held tight to his emotions and refused to let them show.

"Yes Miss Granger?" He asked, hoping his greeting didn't sound too eager.

"I'm sorry, I'm not disturbing anything, am I?" She seemed to be looking over his shoulder. Severus could feel Lucius hovering there, and forced himself not to look.

"Of course you are, but seeing as it's not important..."

"Oh. I am in need of assistance. I'm sorry for interrupting, I can find someone else to-"

Lucius had given Severus a shove.

"He'll be more than happy to assist you." Lucius answered for him and Severus couldn't hide the elbow that flew back, connecting with Lucius' rib cage.

"Are-are you sure? It's not a big problem, I can always find someone else..."

"It's not a problem." Severus spoke through gritted teeth, still glaring at Lucius. "I'll be right over."

The flames died out, returning to their blazing orange and yellow, and Severus stood. Lucius, though tenderly dabbing at his ribs, was grinning widely.

"You're very inconvenient." Severus snarled. "Come right on in, help yourself to my tea and my chair, volunteer myself for help. Would you like to join and mold my every step?"

"I couldn't very well let you skip out. A second opportunity doesn't happen often."

Severus stepped into the fireplace, not wanting to deal with Lucius any further and threw down the powder.

He shook himself off when he arrived, a thick cloud of black ash swirled around him, and he coughed as he breathed it in. As it settled, Hermione came into view, standing feet in front of him, and looking pained.

"I should have warned you our floo hasn't been used in years." She coughed too, waving her hands around to try and help the ash dissipate. Severus could see they were standing in the living room of a quaint house. The furniture had been covered with old sheets, and the place smelled murky, dusty, as if it hadn't been lived in.

"Again, I'm sorry to impose on you at such short notice, it's just I can't get the pilot light lit and there's no one else I could call on."

Pilot light? Merlin's sakes, he was in her home. He took another look around, seeing pictures of an older male and female -her parents- hanging on the walls, but other than he and her, no signs of life.

"You're here alone?" Severus asked and she nodded.

"My parents have been gone since the war. I've come back here some for summers and breaks, otherwise, just to keep the place alive."

"Aren't you usually with Potter and the Weasley's?"

"They all went on vacation, I'm afraid. Harry and Ginny celebrating their last moments before the baby arrives, Ron and his wife taking a second honeymoon..."

Severus cared not to hear the details. He showed it by rolling his eyes to the pictures, feigning interest in her updates. Hermione did look like her mom, but more resembled her father. For Muggles, they looked happy and put together. She stepped up beside him.

"I obliviated them before our search for the horcrux's. They've been living in Austrailia, taken to seeing the world since."

"You can restore their memories." Severus spoke softly, and Hermione nodded.

"I know. They just seem so happy, I can't bring myself to undo it." She smiled gently. "I still see them occasionally. They think I'm their neighbors daughter."

Severus found himself amused, watching Hermione as she looked at the picture, picking out a part of her that still longed for the truth.

"At least they know of you." He said. She nodded, breaking her glance from the picture and looked at him. The moment his eyes met hers, he felt a static run through him, and he pressed it back as much as he could.

"What about you?" She asked. "Are your parents still around?"

"No." Severus answered, taking in a sharp breath before speaking further. "Well, my father isn't. He died due to the factory conditions he worked in. My mother, well she's as good as gone."

Hermione furrowed her brow, tilting her head in a silent plea to continue.

"She's in very late stages of dementia." He explained. "Doesn't remember anything, let alone me, and forgets it just as quickly."

"That's-" Hermione's hand covered her mouth. "That's horrible." Her hand dropped to his arm and she gave it a squeeze. "I'm sorry. I really am."

Severus swallowed, watched her for a few seconds wondering how he had just shared such personal information with her so easily, then sighed. "So this pilot light?"

Hermione seemed to shake back into the here and now and guided him to a closet in the hallway. Having grown up with a Muggle father, he could say he knew his way around the basic Muggle machinery quite well, and easily located the space of the heater where the electric blue flame should have been. He shrugged off his robe, the instant coolness of the house refreshing him, and he fiddled with the gas knob. Using his wand to send a small flame, he watched until it caught, and stepped back. Hermione was leaning on the wall casually, her arms crossed loosely over her chest and was watching him admirably.

"That should do it." Severus said, locating the thermostat and turning it up some. Almost immediately, the heater rumbled to life. "I'm surprised you had trouble with it. Easy enough for-" he turned, catching Hermione's watchful eye. "-that's not really the reason you asked me over, is it?"

Hermione but her lower lip, shaking her head slowly.

"You caught me." She said. "You disappeared so quickly from the ball, I wanted to see if you were alright."

"I'm fine, thank you." Severus said. She closed the gap between them and grabbed his arm. He only tried pulling it back once before giving up and letting her see the ugliness.

"They were given detention. You should be expecting a couple of apology letters as well."

"I'll look forward to them." He said, barely audible. She had taken such care in examining his arms, he found himself actually enjoying it. Her fingers traced the purple lines visible from the crook of his elbow, down to his wrist and up again on the front of his arm. The touch alone building a tension that he had only ever experienced once before, and when it grew stronger, he gently pulled away.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" He asked. Hermione was biting her lip again, shaking her head. He made his way back into the living room. She followed.

"Thank you for lighting my furnace. And I'm glad you're alright. You had us worrying."

"Perfectly fine." Severus said. He grabbed a handful of floo powder, and was about to toss it into the fireplace when he turned.

"There's a Christmas party I've been invited to tomorrow. Would you be interested in joining me?" Surprised that the words came out so easily, he puffed out his chest a little, gaining some courage before he expected her to decline.

"I would love to."

His lips twitched in a quick smile before he bowed his head.

"I shall be around at seven then." And before she could see his cheeks burn themselves a red, he stepped into the floo and returned to his home.


	6. Chapter 6 (part 1)

A/N: Holy wow! All you favoriters and followers are making my day! Just for that I won't make you wait and I'll give you this chapter as a thank you =^^=. Xx!

...

As gloomy as the Manor had presented itself, the hearty helping of snow and delicate, ornate decorations that littered the yard and house had improved the otherwise dark nature of the place. Hermione had clung tightly to his arm upon seeing it, slowing their walk to the front gate.

"I wasn't aware we were coming here." She whispered, sounding troubled. Severus stopped, letting his eyes roam over the snow covered turrets and the high rooftops.

"I know. It's not exactly Buckingham Palace." He joked, then fell silent as he noticed the worry in her eyes.

"I don't have a good memory of this place." She explained. Severus frowned. She continued. "We were quite tortured here."

"We don't have to go in." Severus offered, knowing that in doing so would bring him strife; they were expected, him especially, and not showing would be considered disrespectful even if Lucius was his best friend. "Why not make a good memory?" He asked. "They know of your attendance, and you have my word that no harm will come to you."

Hermione rocked on her feet, her chin beginning to chatter. It was chilly, but Severus knew that was only part of it. He adjusted her arm snugly into his.

"Why don't we just go in and make a presence. If you don't want to stay, we'll leave."

"You'll not leave my side?" Hermione asked, vacillating between him and the Manor. Severus blinked kindly at her.

"Stuck together like glue."

Severus led the way through a gate that swung open upon their arrival. High shrubbery guided them down a straight path. Lights twinkled softly from inside the bush, escorting them over the grounds.

"If it's any comfort, those in attendance have no ties to the past. Besides the Malfoy's and myself, you'll be greeted by quite a lively bunch." His voice was low, as calming as he could make it hoping her grip on his arm would lessen. "Sometimes even I have to excuse myself from the overload of exuberance."

"Really now?" Hermione was still shaking as they ventured up the stairs to the front doors.

"Even us Dark Wizards enjoy a good time. I've a feeling you won't be disappointed."

The front doors opened, revealing a grandeur that was kept well hidden from the outside. Straight ahead of them, a set of circular stairs drew their attention first. Dark oak steps curved gently to a second foyer they found themselves standing in had been polished and dusted that it glowed. Silver and chrome accents adorned the vaulted ceilings and walls, black leather furniture bid for their attention, calling out for them to relax. Severus led Hermione past a couple of taxidermy Saber Tooth Tigers, caught in a leap so real and lifelike Hermione gasped when she noticed them. They were guarding the entrance of the ball room.

Inside the ballroom, people had already gathered in their own little groups, paying them no attention as they entered. Severus had located Lucius and Narcissa near the fireplace, chatting with a round man in a top hat. Severus knew him only as Miles the Mystic: a Seer that Lucius paid weekly to give them readings. He was a strange man, always trying to gain business from Severus, to which he'd always decline.

"Severus!" Lucius interrupted Miles in greeting as they arrived, clapping a hand upon his shoulder. "It's good of you to show up, and with a...date...nonetheless."

Severus narrowed his eyes at Lucius' choice of words.

"Yes. Miss Granger, you're already familiar with Lucius, Narcissa. May I introduce you to Miles. Miles, Hermione Granger." Severus stepped aside, revealing the robust man with a mustache that made him resemble a walrus. Miles shoved his hand out forcibly, taking Hermione's hand into his own and shook it so hard it made her tremble. She smiled, stifling a laugh and looked worriedly to Severus who only returned it with a smile of his own.

"Miss Granger. Such a pleasure. Such a pleasure. I had a feeling someone would be along tonight that would just light up the room with her presence." He wheezed, Hermione retained her hand, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to form words. Lucius, thankfully, saved her sputtering.

"Miss Granger attended Hogwarts with Draco. She's been called the brightest witch of her time and we are honored to have her as a guest in our home."

Hermione stared at Lucius as if he had grown an extra head. Miles seemed impressed.

"I knew it, I just knew it. There's a radiance about you, Miss Granger. Indeed there is!" He wheezed again.

Severus leaned close to Hermione. "He's extravagant, loopy, but harmless." He whispered to her. Hermione gave her agreement in the form of a chortle.

"Tell me, Granger. What have you been up to as of late?" Lucius asked. Severus worried that somewhere along the line, he'd forget his manners.

"I've taken over teaching Transfiguration at Hogwarts." She answered, still unsure of his deferential attitude.

"You've some shoes to fill, after McGonagal teaching that class for so long."

"Miss Granger has already made quite an impression." Severus added before much could be said to ruin her reputation. Lucius appeared impressed.

"Is this a long term goal, or are you just filling in for now?" He asked.

"I haven't decided yet. It beats being the 'go-for' at the Ministry, however."

At this, Lucius bellowed loudly.

"Indeed it is. What business had you there?"

"I became an intern. Originally planned on working with the Magical Creatures Department, then found interest in the magical law."

"A great Auror you would have made." Lucius nodded his head to her. Hermione may have been blind to it, but Severus could feel a fire begin to burn in him.

"No, not an Auror, though the training would have to be done. I was going for an attorney position. Start my own firm."

"Really now? How exciting."

Severus had been ready to jump in and excuse the both of them to mingle elsewhere. Anything that had the Ministry attached to it was a sure way to set Lucius off. Narcissa beat him to it.

"May I take your coat?" Narcissa asked, and Hermione backed away from her as she reached for it.

"I'd prefer to hang onto it if it's not a problem."

Narcissa nodded politely, drawing an arm around her shoulder and pulled her away. Severus sent her a silent thank you.

"Come, let's let the guys have a moment."

Hermione sent Severus a look, he nodded his approval, assuring her it was alright, although knowing she would have preferred him to protest the action. He watched Narcissa lead Hermione to a group of women only a few yards away before turning his attention back to Lucius and Miles.

"I can hear the bells already, dear Severus." Lucius poked fun.

"Oh? Wedding bells? Congratulations!" Miles exclaimed. Severus jeered. "I'm positive the two of you will be exceptionally happy."

Severus was chuckling. "You're certain of that?" He asked, not able to resist the sarcasm and Miles nodded none the wiser to the actual situation. Severus couldn't understand how Lucius could waste so much money on such a flub. The Seer, as he so called himself, was as trustworthy as Lockhart. He glanced to Hermione, breathing easier as she seemed to be chatting comfortably with Anna Grady, a witch his age that had spent the summers at her grandfathers, a few houses down. They knew each other only by the time spent chumming around the Manor together during their adolescence, never being friendly enough to keep in touch otherwise.

"-home business, eh?" Miles had punched his arm, drawing his attention back into the circle. Severus lifted the corners of his mouth, raising his eyebrows as he fought to collect the direction of the conversation, obviously now on his line of work.

"Yes, it's surprisingly freeing." Severus said.

"There's nothing like working for yourself, is there? You know I can give you a free reading, guide you into choices that will open up bigger opportunities." Miles looked at him hopefully, his eyes shining as brightly as a newly printed Galleon.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to pass." Severus was quick to decline, not even curious as to what kind of scam he'd be offered. "I'm quite booked." Was his excuse. The gleam disappeared from his eyes just as fast as it appeared, and a cold shoulder was offered in its wake as Miles suddenly stated that he recognized a familiar face across the room. He watched him leave, taking the opportunity to look back at Hermione. He searched the group for her, growing anxious as she had seemed to disappear, but found her shortly being twirled around by a lad in a crimson suit and blonde hair that was pulled into a tight tail at the nape of his neck. A twinge of jealousy pinged in him, but he shook it off.

"You haven't frightened her away yet. That's a good sign." Lucius was watching her too. "I have to admit, you do make a charming couple. I actually see a glimpse of happiness in your despondent face. She compliments you nicely."

"What are you doing?" Severus asked, growing suspicious. "You're too welcoming of this. What have you planned?"

Lucius looked offended.

"Can't I express my feelings?" He clicked his tongue. "As I've said before, I want to see you with a wife even if it means I have to tolerate a Mudblo-". He stopped himself. Severus became stone faced, gave a curt nod and excused himself before Lucius could speak himself into a mistake.


	7. Chapter 7 (Pt 2)

Severus didn't see Hermione again until they were seated around a grand table set with all the trimmings. Unfortunately, she had been placed on the opposite side, too far down to even speak to, and he had the pleasure of conversing with Dorien Peesy. He'd be sure to give Lucius, who had cheekily winked at him from the end of the table, a piece of his mind when it was all over, knowing very well her placement next to his was not a mistake.

The woman hadn't stopped talking, even through cheeks filled with mashed potatoes and stuffing, she had managed to not choke as she rambled on and on. Severus found himself bored, imagining how it would feel stabbing his fork into her hand that repeatedly grabbed his arm. He could feel the stickiness of her fingers through his sleeve when she would lift her hand away.

"...and so I told him, oh gosh, you'll get a kick out of this, I told him that the rabbit was...all ears!" Her laugh was enough to curdle his glass of wine, if such a thing could happen. He forced a smile, unable to do much else, then hurriedly stuffed a fork full of roast beef between his teeth to save him from commenting. To his right sat an elderly witch. It was no used speaking with her, she could hear as well as she could see and in that case half of the gravy dish had landed in her lap thinking she had poured it on her plate, giving a good sign she'd not be one for communication. Settling back in his chair, he rubbed at his temple as Dorine continued. She either never breathed, or held an uncanny ability to store air in the ways camels store their water.

"...And Mr. Anders, he's the guy that runs the flower shop the next street over said he positively adored my hat, you know the one? With the Raven on it? Well anyway, he asked me where I had purchased it so as he may get one for his wife! Can you believe it? I told him that there was a darling little place just down the road from Exubiars' Emporium and Trinkets...do you know the place?...No?...well I'll tell you, if you are ever looking for a quick gift, Exubiar's has it all. I've found many curious things in his store, I got my yard fountain there, actually, have you seen it? The one with the three trolls? Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, see, I told him it's just down the road from Exubiar's and-"

Severus groaned. Any thought of courting her let alone taking her on as a wife only excelled his thoughts toward Hermione. He searched her out, seeing she had been speaking with her neighbor, swirling her fork above her plate. It looked like she was drawing a map of some sort in her food, the person next to her leaning in with interest. A clinking glass was the only thing that brought the room to silence, even Dorien had managed to fall silent, sure to start back up afterward. He took the break to feel at his ears, to make sure she hadn't talked them off. Lucius rose from his seat, a glass in his hands.

"Thank you all for coming." He said. "Narcissa, Draco, and I are especially overjoyed that each of you have spent your Christmas with us. I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Christmas. Here's to friends as good as family, and family as good as friends."

A chorus of 'here, here' spread around the table, glasses clinked together in cheer as the toast was made, and then just like that, everything fell back to normal. Severus reduced himself to sulking, finding it hard to do much of anything else. Dorine reminisced about the speeches her father used to give; elaborate ones that used to put his guests to sleep right there at the table! It became evident she took after him.

His break came near the meals end when he had noticed Hermione had vanished from her seat, having been gone for too long, and excused himself. He followed the long wall of the dining room, veering right at the door and took a moment to relax, enjoying the sound of silence and solitary. He pressed his back to the wall, closed his eyes and breathed. Eventually, Severus had wandered the hallways continuing his search, following faint voices until he came across Hermione conversing with a painting.

"Well I'll be damned." The man in the painting was known as Uncle Albert. He wasn't Malfoy relation, just an heirloom someone had bought at a yard sale. Uncle Albert had hung in the same hallway, in the same spot since Severus could remember and always enjoyed seeing him. Uncle Albert was more grandfatherly; a thick fluffy mustache hid his upper lip, a full beard covered half his face, a smoking pipe always tucked away in his right hand. Uncle Albert had changed for the occasion, resembling St. Nick so much it was hard to tell the difference between the Saint and the Wizard.

"Miss Granger had told me she was in your arm tonight." He said. Severus chuckled.

"I've watched Severus grow up, you know. I remember he and his friends always roaming the halls, looking for the next thing to destroy."

"Fibs. Such fibbary. You should be ashamed of yourself, Uncle Albert." Severus tsked. Uncle Albert scoffed.

"I've never told a fib in my life." He leaned to Hermione, cupping his hand over his mouth as if to tell her a secret, though every word was audible.

"You're the first gal I've seen with him that hasn't been forced upon him. Consider yourself lucky."

Severus winced, knowing better and feeling slightly guilty. Hermione had been forced on him, causing Uncle Albert to lie without having knowing. Hermione grinned devishly.

"Is that so?" She asked. Uncle Albert gave a great nod.

"Master Malfoy threw a party once. No witch would go near him, even a foot within his aura. He'd be sweating so bad the poor thing could never present himself properly."

"I can hear you." Severus willed his face to cool down. Hermione laughed light-heartedly. Uncle Albert continued as if Severus wasn't there.

"Can't say I blame him, though. They picked on him a lot, they did. Master Malfoy and the gang that is. Used to wrestle him to the ground right here in front of me and tickle him until he cried!" Uncle Albert burst into a tremendous laugh. Severus, sure his face was redder than Rudolph's nose, had grabbed Hermione around the waist and pulled her away from the painting. Uncle Albert was in hysterics too much to notice their departure, doubled over bent knees, slapping the hand that held the pipe on one. Severus was mumbling under his breath the things he'd like to do to the painting, and Hermione tagged along beside him, having to double step to keep up with him.

"Don't be angry at him." Hermione was obviously keeping herself from laughing. "I'm sure he has worse stories to tell."

Severus considered this and slowed his walk, noticing her quick feet, and had to agree. Uncle Albert had seen many things and could destroy his reputation given enough time.

"You spent a lot of time here then?" Hermione asked. Severus nodded after a few steps.

"I did. It was better than home." He grimaced at his memories. Home had been filled with a father who beat him and a mother who drank to escape the heat, often too drunk to care. Not being able to withstand much of it, he made it a habit to spend as much time as possible within the Manor after Lucius had befriended him. "Spent most of my time here reading, however."

"You weren't part of the gang?"

"No, I was, we constantly stirred up trouble. I just preferred the solitude of the library on occasion rather than the company of rebels."

"A library?" Hermione asked. Severus smirked as she sounded interested. He guided her through another hallway, to a far corner of the Manor and pushed open a pair of double doors, revealing a wide room that took up two stories and cram-packed with books. Hermione looked blissful as she took it all in, turning first her head, then her body to match. She was speechless as she turned, and he followed suit. No matter how familiar he was with the library, it still managed to take his breath away every time.

"This is amazing." She breathed, approaching the closest shelf to her right and followed it around the room slowly, letting her fingers run across the bindings as if they were fragile and made from glass. Severus couldn't help but watch with respect. It wasn't a secret Hermione had a love affair for the written word, and just seeing her weak in the knees from the tomes brought to him a sense of satisfaction. If the night had a chance to end badly, at least he could remember this moment.

"Severus?"

Draco announced his arrival, watching Hermione closely as she fondled his library, but didn't seem to mind.

"We're taking off, are you joining?"

"We'll be a minute." Severus said. Draco nodded at the both of them and left. Hermione tore herself away, placing a book she had taken from the shelf to flip through back into its spot.

"We'll be a minute for what?" Hermione asked. Severus offered his arm, guiding her out of the room.

"A Christmas tradition." He answered.

They gathered in the back lawn. Only a handful of guests had remained; those close enough with the Malfoy's to know of the tradition. Draco approached them, two brooms in hand.

"You remember how to get there?" He asked, Severus grabbing his broom while Hermione stared quizzically at it. She hesitantly reached out and took it.

"How can I forget?" Severus mounted his broom. Hermione still staring daggers at hers. She waited until Draco had left before leaning to Severus.

"I would like to leave." She said. Severus pouted slightly. "I'm not fond of flying. Please, can we go?"

"We aren't going that far." Severus said, sitting upright. Hermione shook her head again.

"Please? I just-"

"-there's room for two on that broom, you know." Draco had flown past, whizzing by them, looking over his shoulder and winked at Severus. Severus looked back to Hermione, swallowing a lump that had formed in his throat. He hadn't even considered sharing a broom, the thought even feeling uncomfortable, but he lifted his hand for her to take if she wanted it. She didn't appear too delightful either, her lips forming a tight line as she fit herself sideways in front of him.

"Would you mind if I just-"

He didn't give her time to finish asking, kicking off the ground and rising quickly as he saw the group beginning to leave. He knew the way like the back of his own hand, but didn't want to get left behind. She cried out some, her arms tightly finding hold around his neck and she buried her head into his shoulder. He pitied her, flying with or without a broom had been one of his favorite things. There was something liberating about it, it was refreshing letting the wind hit his face and the current carry him wherever. He wasn't disappointed, however, finding he was slowly enjoying the feel of her arms around his neck and the warm scent of cinnamon and sugar cookies from her hair. So trusting, albeit forced upon her, but invigorating.

It took fifteen minutes to reach the hilltop, the moon their only natural source of light; any disturbance from surrounding cities had been left far behind them. Hermione clinched to him after his feet were safely on the ground and he gave the okay to let go. He helped her off the broom, then led the way to where the rest of the group stood. They were staring into a sky being painted with the Aurora Borealis. Soft blues, vivid greens and pinks waved through the sky. A slow and steady tide, brilliant enough to bring a perfect and still ending to the night. Especially when Hermione had stepped up beside him and fitted her hand slyly into his.

...

"Thank you for inviting me." Hermione turned to him on her top step, her keys dangling from her fingers. He had escorted her safely home, wanting to appear as gentlemanly as possible and knew Lucius would give him an ear load if he didn't.

"Thank you for coming." Severus said likewise, allowing a true smile to appear. He hesitated, wanting to speak but felt sudden dread, maybe fear of being let down fighting him, but he forced the words. "Would you like to go for tea sometime?" He felt like all the bones had left his body, "Next weekend, perhaps?" He felt shaky as he waited her reply. She seemed to ponder the invitation, before her eyes sparkled.

"That sounds wonderful." She said. Severus blinked a few times, taking in her answer in amazement, she hadn't turned him down. The bones regrew in him, giving him the strength to keep standing even though his body still felt like jelly. The feeling only intensified when she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. He couldn't help but stand there, frozen. She unlocked her door, then turned once more to him.

"Good night." She whispered, smiling, then went inside. Severus turned stiffly, his hands stuffed in his pockets, eyebrows raised as he assessed the situation just encountered, replaying the night in his head. When he reached the end of her driveway, he was chuckling. When he reached a dark stretch between the street lamps, he was grinning, and he leapt into the air for a late night soar through the clouds.

A/N: Thanks again to all my reviewers, followers and favoriters! All of you keep my spirits up and the words flowing.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Surprise! Another chapter to celebrate The beginning of Camp NaNoWriMo! You guys are spoiled this week with almost daily updates, but just so we're clear I am going to resume my every other day updates so I have time to get ahead in my chapters so I'm not rushing to catch up. The official word count will start with the next chapter. Goal is 30k this month, wish me luck!

...

In the week that passed, Severus had worn himself down to believing he had imagined her parting kiss. The very thought of it made his head ache, and the memory alone had succumbed to uncertain fuzziness. Why would she of all people part ways with him and give him a kiss to be remembered by? Surely she hasn't accepted him this quickly, thought him deserving enough for a kiss. His cheek had held the feeling for a few days, having clearly been without for so long, and he had touched the spot repeatedly, trying to capture what was left of it when it slowly faded away. No, it had to have been a dream, he was sure of it. And after making himself believe this, resumed his usual somber mood, refusing anything that remotely reminded him of that moment. His hand, he was certain she had held it. That was something he could wrap sense around, and found himself thumbing his fingers, in between the spaces where her hand had been, palm pressed to his palm, phalanges knotted into a single fist. She had rested her head on his shoulder, that he was also certain. But the kiss? It was to laugh. At the week's end, he found himself knocking upon her door to make good on that tea date, tugging his sleeves, feeling the nervous wobbles begin again as he waited for her to answer. The door swung open. His eyes saw the lightning bolt scar first, before noticing the man staring at him just as confused.

"Professor!" Harry was clearly not expecting him, and Severus was clearly not expecting Harry. What could have been considered a friendly attitude quickly flipped, the nerves settling with it, and Severus scowled unintentionally.

"Potter." He greeted, lifting his chin. "I'm calling on Miss Granger...she's expecting me."

"Right." Harry said. "She's just inside." Looking him over once, Harry stepped away from the door. "Won't you come in?"

"Blimey." Ron had poked his head around a corner as soon as Severus touched foot over the threshold. "So it's true then. 'Mione said that may have been you."

Severus' eyes narrowed at the boy, his chin lifting even more. Harry pushed Ron back around the corner, whispering something harshly to him and Severus followed. They each took a seat on the couch, its covering having been removed. Harry slapped his knees lightly a few times.

"Right then." He said more to fill the uncomfortable silence between them. "How've you been?"

"Well." Severus was cautious in answering. It wasn't that Harry had been causing him any worry, it was the sodden expression that Ron carried had made him feel judged.

"Great." Harry said, a sigh followed shortly after. His hands tapped his knees again.

"Hermione mentioned she spent the holiday with you." Harry's smile appeared forced and painful. Ron took to gaping. Severus only nodded. The silence fell again. It wasn't much longer until Harry had shoved Ron for staring, and Ron had turned his attention forward into the fireplace.

Excruciating.

The ticking of the grandfather clock was even becoming too loud, and they all breathed a sigh of relief when Hermione appeared. She was attaching an earring, looking from each of them in an amused way.

"Light conversation." She said, tugging at the earring when it was placed. "It's how people normally pass a few minutes." She smiled. "I've just to grab my purse, Severus, then we can leave, yeah?" And just like that, she was gone again, the stiffness returning. The way she said his name echoing between his ears. He smirked, wanting to glance at the two next to them to see their reaction, but managed not to.

"How about this snow?" Harry mused. "I don't remember it ever snowing this much." He let out an awkward snuffle, then realized the silence was preferred and just let it happen.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Hermione appeared again, and like before, the tension was broken. All three of them rising in unison, Harry and Ron clamoring to lead the way to the front door, Severus next and Hermione taking the rear. They stood there, the goodbyes taking a while to get started, like a rusty squeeze box, with Hermione letting out a sigh of exasperation, lunging forward to hug Harry and Ron tightly. Severus felt sick at the sight.

"It was good to see you. We'll have to plan a night to get together." She told them as she opened the door, ushering all of them outside. Ron was sneaking glances at Severus who could only stare back at him. Hermione's light touch broke him away.

"If you'd rather visit, I can come back another time?" Severus found himself saying. Ron looked hopeful, Harry bashfully took interest in the handrail next to him, but Hermione persisted.

"No, it's fine. They were just leaving anyway, weren't you guys?"

They waited until Harry and Ron had left, then taking his arm, Hermione apparated them both to a small outdoor setting. Obviously she had another place in mind than Severus had planned. A few bistros and consignment shops lined both sides of the block-long mall they landed in, and Hermione led the way to one in the middle. 'Brown and Parva Tea Shoppe' a simple sign over the door read. Severus had not time to protest once the name took meaning before Hermione pushed him through the door and he barely had time to take in his surroundings before Hermione squealed, hugging tightly to a girl who squealed in the same fashion. When they broke apart, he could see Lavender Brown more clearly, a twitch hit his eye as she greeted him.

"Best seat in the house." Lavender announced, placing them at a table big enough for two in the corner of the room. She handed them menu's, forcing Severus to open his and jabbed a finger at a top corner.

"These are the specials, free refills, my favorite is the Lamint...a mix of lavender and mint." She giggled, curtsying at the cleaver name, then forced Hermione's menu open. "And these are the meal specials. Of course, whatever you want, it's on the house."

Severus turned green as she left, already having enough of the place and gave a pleading look to Hermione.

"Must we dine here?" He asked, his tongue rubbing the roof of his mouth as if he was tasting something rotten. Hermione had not looked up to him, but was intensely studying the menu.

"It's not that bad. Their Hammie's are quite decent actually. So are the Chicken Lickens."

"Chicken Lickens?" Severus almost gagged. Hermione giggled.

"Chicken fingers that lick the sauce right off your fingers for you."

"That doesn't sound appetizing at all." He grimaced. "And the Hammie's?"

"Ham sandwiches. They're cut in the shape of pig snouts with green olives as the nostrils. They even oink when prodded. You can thank George for that idea." Hermione folded her menu, still beaming. Severus copied her, and decided on the only thing that sounded natural on the menu: tomato soup. Not long after, another round of squealing brought Parvati Patil to their table. This girl annoyed him less, finding it easier just to order an Earl Grey and his soup from her in a professional way (both of the Patil girls, if he could keep them straight, were always well mannered and respectful toward him, gaining his respect in exchange).

The tea arrived quickly, and for the most part, it seemed like they'd actually have a minute to themselves.

"Enjoying your break?" Severus asked. Hermione sighed happily.

"If you could call it that. I'm still grading tests. Otherwise it has been nice to be away from the castle." Her eyes twinkled, and she traced the swirling flower design on the table cloth. Severus sat and watched her finger, his mind racing for something to say, but finding it blank. They hadn't known each other long enough yet to comfortably speak, so the silence was just as harsh to withstand. His eyes moved from her finger to his surroundings. Tea kettle sets were displayed on the walls, shelves of product and a whole wall filled with loose leaf tea for purchase surrounded them. The intoxicating scent of the tea leaves was almost overpowering, flowery, and had it not been for his years of being surrounded by herbs, would have found the smell a bit discerning.

"How long have they had the shop?" He asked. He knew Lavender and Parvati had favored Divination, becoming Trelawney's class pets quickly and earning nothing but boasting from the woman during their school years.

"It's been about three years since the official opening, but they've been hosting private tea readings since graduating." Hermione pointed to a wall behind her. "They're well acclaimed."

Severus saw frames hanging from the wall, newspaper clipping in each of them. From the few he could read from his seat, had boldly announced their grand opening and even some Wizarding preference choice. He had to admit, it was impressive.

"They're planning to open a second store in Diagonal Alley next summer." Hermione added. Severus nodded appreciatively and drank down his tea. Out of nowhere, and quite suddenly, Lavender appeared. She smiled softly down at him, reaching her hand out for his cup. Grudgingly, he handed it over. She peered into it, concentrating hard. Out of respect for Hermione, he held his tongue.

"Ah, Professor Snape. I see an exciting future, one that is filled with daring adventures, but I must warn you, a friend is sure to betray your trust. Love, you shall find, but heartbreak will be your downfall." She handed the cup back, puckering her lips up in a mystical fit, making a breathy 'oooh' sound. Severus rolled his eyes as he grabbed the cup from her and looked in disdain to Hermione who silently giggled.

"My turn! Do me!" Hermione said, quickly gulping down the last of her tea. Lavender took her cup and studied it, turning it slowly. Severus raised his eyebrows.

"Your shaking it." He mumbled.

"Shhh." Hermione winked, returning her attention to Lavender, who seemed not to notice.

"Ah, dear Hermione. I see a life full of love ahead of you. Shirtless Spanish pool boys waiting on your every whim. Hot Latino lovers taking you on glorious trips, spoiling you senseless. Words, lots of them will complete your wants and deepest desires. You'll have as many children as there are many stars to wish upon." Her exaggerated grin hinted to Severus that most of it was made up. Hermione's astounded gasp sealed his suspicions as she took her cup back and placed it delicately on the saucer in front of her. Lavender giggled, a hand squeezing Severus' shoulder that he glared at.

"Your food will be out shortly." She disappeared as quickly as she arrived.

"Friendly bunch." He said, brushing at his shoulder. "Tell me you didn't buy any of that." Severus pleaded. Hermione shook her head.

"Are you kidding? She knows my feelings on the Devine as well as my bucket list. My readings are always in my favor."

"Splendid." Severus tilted his cup and looked into it. A mass of tea leaves heaped on the bottom, he couldn't even make out a shape at all, let alone begin to understand how anything besides compost could be seen within it. "I'd be worried about you if you did." He cracked a smirk. Hermione stuck her tongue out at him.

"The day I believe in tea leaves is the day I'll die."

"So." Severus tinged his teeth, smiling slightly. "Spanish pool boys, Latino lovers? All these are on your bucket list?"

Hermione laughed heartedly.

"Those are just glorified dreams of our adolescence." She grabbed for the kettle to refill her cup. "I really want to read Howard Hornfly's entire collection...that's where the words come in."

"All 300 texts?" Severus jutted his lip forward. "You expect to stay awake through all of it?" Hornfly's books read like foreign instructions. He had made it halfway through the first volume before giving up on it, planning on never picking it up again. In fact, he had used it as kindling. Hermione shrugged.

"It's a challenge I'm willing to partake in."

"And as many children as there are shooting stars?" At this, Severus leaned forward, thoroughly interested in her answer. He had considered children in the past but his hermit life sealed a childless world for him. He wasn't excited for a sky load, but a couple would be nice, something to carry on his genes. She blushed.

"Well I only want two children." She answered softly. "I have wanted to count five hundred shooting stars in one night, though. I've only ever reached three hundred and twenty one."

Severus sat, watching her. She moved uncomfortably under his gaze.

"What about your bucket list?" She asked quickly to shift the conversation elsewhere. Severus shrugged his shoulders.

"I've never had one." He admitted. "It's always been to stay out of Azkaban and to keep alive. I guess you can say mine's complete."

"Sounds more like ethical promises to me." She sat on her hands, leaning in. "There must be something you've always wanted to do? Something you've wanted to see before you die?"

Severus smirked. His time as a Death Eater had shown him more things than he wanted to see and had him do more things than he'd pleased.

"Alright. Then tell me something you've never done."

He thought. There were many things he'd never done, such as flown in a Muggle plane, or made a wand. He could feel opportunity rising here, though, and spent a few precious seconds wanting to turn this into something they'd both enjoy, something that would give him an excuse to be beside her.

"I've never been to a zoo." He said. Hermione gaped slightly. Severus lifted his shoulders. "I've never, ridden a horse, or been to a cinema. Never been married (he gave himself a mental pay on the back at being suave there) or...stayed up to watch a meteor shower." He threw that last one in as an after thought. It was a lie, he had seen many stars fall from the heavens, but found it a date he knew she wouldn't pass up. Her mouth nearly hung to the table when he finished.

"Your bucket list is quite obtainable." Hermione pointed out. "We'll have to work on that."

Their food came without pomp and circumstance.

...

They walked beside each other, stomachs full of tea and food, up one side of the cozy mall and down the other.

"Have you any plans for the rest of your night?" Severus asked casually. He had hoped she'd say no, knowing they could easily extend their time together a little longer, but Hermione had nodded.

"Sadly yes. I've got more papers to grade and a few lesson plans to finish." She answered. Severus nodded. Lesson plans, the most boring thing a professor had to do.

A merchant walked passed them on foot. He carried a small barrel filled with flowers, a handwritten sign hung off the front that read 'Mood Roses, 1 Knuckle.' Digging in his pocket, he made a quick exchange with the merchant, and promptly handed Hermione the rose that instantly faded from the intense red it had been charmed to hold. When she took it from him, it sparkled to life, rotating between red to black, to yellow than orange, then faded into a periwinkle before cycling through the colors again. She lifted it to her nose, inhaled softly, and smiled.

"Beautiful." She said. They continued walking, the safe apparation zone quickly approaching.

"Thank you." She said. "Today was fun."

"It was fun." Severus had turned to her as they stood in between people popping in arriving and popping out leaving. She had grown silent, almost pensive in the moment. He had his hands in his pockets, and knew he should have removed them when she one-armed hugged him, to return the attention, but it happened so quickly and he was still not yet used to saying good bye, that he only regretted it after she had waved to him and left. The day had been wonderful, though a sudden empty feeling of her quick departure made him wonder if something had gone wrong that he didn't see. She had left so...suddenly? Immediately he began to doubt himself. Was she expecting something more? Severus would spend the rest of the day unsettled.


	9. Chapter 9

The next few days were filled with that gut wrenching anticipation, he would have sworn his insides, should anyone care to look at them, had been twisted into a knot. Time slowed to a crawl as he replayed the day at the tea shop over and over, even in his dreams he couldn't escape it. He thought it had been all swell and dandy, they had talked and laughed just as before, they had conversed, he had given her a rose...a mood rose...and had tried recalling his school days when he had learned the color meanings but had since forgotten them, not ever planning on using them.

He had sat on the ground in front of his fireplace, lifting his hand, letting it hover over the neatly stacked logs and willing his fingers to let go of the handful of floo powder. The hand would be brought back to his chest, he would sit and stare, then try again. Hand hovering, fingers unmoving, then back into his chest. Hand out, fingers opening just enough to allow a small stream of powder to trickle down, causing the dullest of green flames to appear, before panicking and pulling back.

A chicken. That's all you are. A bonafide wimp.

He'd leave the fireplace, pace a few large circles into his living room floor then sit back down, determined. Replace his hand over the logs, count to three and encounter a barrier. Snarling, he bullied himself, cursing all of womankind, blaming his secluded childhood for the inability to just let his fingers open and wondering where it all went wrong. If it hadn't been of the sudden realization he'd be spending the rest of his life wooing Doeine Peesy, his hesitation would have continued.

The flames burst, casting green shadows upon his face, mimicking the sour feeling in his stomach, and put his head in, calling upon the Granger house. Pins and needles poked his skin and when her living room came into view, he found his voice was not working. It took a few seconds to cough out the worry, finally managing to peep out her name.

"Miss Granger?" He called. There was no answer. "Miss Granger?" He waited. He pushed his head further in, trying to see around the corners of the fireplace, and when no signs of life had appeared, had pulled out of the floo and humphed in defeat. He picked at the bottom of his shoe, feeling more like a loser now for having worked himself up for nothing. Curiously, he grabbed another handful and stuck his head in again...just to be sure.

He went into a mild panic, sure that he had done something wrong. It had been a good week since tea and now she was nowhere to be found. Before his worry could get the best of him, he apparated himself to the Malfoy Manor.

His footsteps echoed in the foyer, and he quickly made his way around, peering in room after empty room. The last place he had checked, a drawing room on the second floor, had brought him to Draco. The blonde raised his head slowly, using a finger to mark his place in a book, and seemed almost annoyed to be distracted from his reading until he recognized Severus.

"My father's out." He said, "if that's who you're looking for."

Severus frowned, collapsing against a wall. He rubbed at his neck in frustration.

"Can I help you with anything?" Draco was beside him now. Severus began to say no, but vacillated his head into an awkward bobbing nod.

"You could actually. I'm afraid I may have spoiled any chance with Hermione. I am unable to locate her. Would you mind popping off to Hogwarts? She may be there, and casually ask about me should you find her?" He'd have gone there himself, but the agony of despair from her empty home made him wonder if she even wanted to see him at all. It was still too early for her to take residence in the castle, but there was a chance she had returned, protecting herself inside its walls. Draco smirked at him.

"You...wish me...to speak with Hermione?" He snorted. "Oh that's just classic."

"Please, Draco, I'm begging you." Severus sounded sincere.

"And what would you do for me?" His eyebrow raised, arching gracefully over a grey eye.

"Consider it a favor repaid at a later date for anything you desire, just please, please-"

Draco was waving a hand.

"Alright, alright." He patted Severus' arm in comfort. "I'll go. Just remember you owe me one."

Severus looked at him thankfully, watching him wander down the hallway. He heard a soft 'pop' seconds later, and only then took the first lungful of breath he had in hours. Something else was bothering him though, the other thing that brought him to the Manor. He made his way back to the first floor, finding himself feeling hugged by the books when he stepped into the library. He reveled in the feeling, but only for a moment before his wand was drawn and he called to him, a book of color meanings. It was a thin book, one that burst with colorful light depending upon the page, in the shade it described. He thumbed through, falling upon black first.

"...Mysterious, intense, excited...stressed, hurt, angered." He flipped to the next color he recalled, yellow, reading aloud to himself. "...Fair, coy, distracted..." Periwinkle. "...Solitary, lonely, questioning..." He snapped the book shut, dwelling on the fact that all the colors had represented his worst thoughts. She hated him, it was evident. Why else would the rise have displayed the colors.

Severus. He reminded himself. You don't believe in this stuff, remember? The little voice sounded disappointed. He forced a chuckle, sending the book back to its place. He didn't believe in it, had no intentions of believing it, but before he could exit the library, had found he had relentlessly called the book back to him and flipped through the pages again, this time slinking into the nearest chair as his knees gave out, and studiously studied the words.

Draco had returned to find him shaking. His eyes had gone out of focus, and he was staring at the page blankly though the words replayed as clear as day in front of his eyes. For a moment, Draco appeared to be worried, kneeling down, grabbing Severus' arms and shook him until a sign of life had shown. Severus looked to Draco, hopeful his feelings were only radical exaggerations of the truth.

"Well?" Severus asked. Draco shook his head.

"She wasn't there. I'm sorry, Severus. I can go back later if you'd like?"

Severus rolled his eyes, then his head, and he slumped in the chair. He covered his face with the book.

"I'm done for." He croaked. "Done for. Might as well consider myself ball and chained to that insufferable pain of a woman you call your neighbor." Groaning, he allowed Draco to pull the book away from his face.

"There's no God in the universe that cruel." He said seriously. "Even I don't want to see that. Peesy is forever bound to be alone."

"The promise was made, Draco. It's bound to happen."

"You're giving up too soon. There's plenty of year left, you'll just have to figure out what happened and redeem yourself."

"Ahh, what's this?" Lucius had entered quite interested in the conversation. Severus had no idea how much he had heard, but had a feeling it had been enough to mock him. Severus forced himself to sit upright, sending the book back to the shelves. He leaned forward, arms on his knees, and drew his eyes to match Lucius'.

"A month into it and it's this bad already?" Lucius frowned, drawing up another chair to sit by him. "I have to agree with my son, you're giving up too easily."

"Why did I let you talk me into this?" Severus asked. He rubbed at his face, shrugging. "Remind me never to drink with you again."

"It's not all that bad, is it? Now you have a chance to show yourself. I mean really show yourself, let her know of the selfless romantic I know is in there somewhere." Lucius paused, thinking. "Just exactly...what did you do?"

"I don't know!" Severus didn't mean to bark it, but it sure came out that way. "We were fine, talking, having a grand 'ol time, and the next she hurried away and hid!"

"It's your hairy heart." Lucius said. Severus lifted his eyebrows, his eyes widening.

"Yeah well. Unlike the fable, my heart is still well within my chest and isn't at all hairy, thank you very much. It's just me. It's got to be. Old, repulsive me."

He rose from his seat, shoulders still remaining slumped, and made his way to exit the room.

"Where are you going?" Lucius asked.

"To get pissed." Severus answered, emotionally drained.

...

"I'll tell my ma, when I go home,

The boys won't leave the girls alone,

They pull my hair and stole my comb,

And that's alright till I go home..."

Lucius had started, as loudly as he could, the next pub song he could think of. Severus had attempted to drink from his mug of beer, but Lucius had swung an arm around his shoulder making half of it slush out and down his front. Just as well, nothing else was going right, why not have a frothy brew stain as proof of the night's failure? Lucius had started moving to the uppity beat of the song. Severus placed his mug on the table, looking longingly at it, waiting for the song to end so he may be able to down it.

"...She is handsome, she is pretty,

She is the belle of Bellfast city..."

Those around him, regulars to the pub with red, large noses and balding heads had joined in the singing. Their toothless mouths widely singing along.

"...She is courtin', one two three,

Please won't you tell me who is she?"

Severus grabbed for his beer, but set it down again. Lucius was not finished, diving straight into another repeat of the chorus.

"She is handsome, she is pretty,

She is the Belle of Bellfast city,

She is courtin', one two three,

Please won't you tell me who is she?"

Lucius laughed heatedly, slapping Severus hard on the shoulder as he yet again tried for a drink, fighting to catch the beer from his mug.

"Can we try a slower song?" Severus asked, wondering if he'd be able to nurse his worries away easier with something not so bouncy.

"He wants a slower song!" Lucius announced, the group around him hacking their old-aged laughs. One of them 'bah'd' so hard it sounded like he was dying right there at the table. "Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling..." He started the familiar tune, voice scruffy, the others joining in slowly. Severus nodded approval enjoying the sadness that seemed to take over with the tune, shrugged Lucius' arm off of him, and finally took a deserving swig of beer.

"Don't drown yourself too much." Lucius warned. "It'll be hard to find you a witch if you're slobbering drunk."

"I'm not drunk." Severus protested. There was truth to it, he could still contain himself, but the effects of the alcohol had taken place. He could tell the world around him had become much more bearable, the singing only bothered him half of what it should, and he was rather numb to anything at that moment. When he looked up from his mug, a female had taken a seat on Lucius' lap. She hooked an arm around his neck, and they were talking low to each other. Severus grimaced, disappointed in his friends habits of attracting women.

It was a trait he developed during their time as Death Eaters, gathering all the women possible to do with as they saw fit, and the one habit Lucius had never really tried to break. Severus had never much been one for the idea, usually settling on allowing the females forced on him to be nothing more than decoration, but never taking it further. At the time, his heart was very much somewhere else, his morals wouldn't have let him be promiscuous, and he had to constantly be on guard due to his place with both Voldemort and Dumbledore. The girl looked to Severus, deep chocolate eyes that sparkled in the low lighting. She had round rosy cheeks, and a laugh that energized the room.

"Severus, I'd like you to meet Sandra Morgan." Lucius' smile was saturated with a bright idea that to Severus, only churned his stomach.


	10. Chapter 10

Sandra had been serving at the pub since she was old enough to see over the tables, her step-father, Eddie, had owned the pub and though she wanted to break free from the life, had been guilted into making it her career choice. She had graduated with top marks from a prestigious wizarding academy for girls nestled in some snowy and secluded Russian town. Her mother, Morticia, had been a familiar model for Pure Blood fashion magazines and though their life as spiraled away from the ritz and glamour soon after Eddie came into the picture, they still held fast to a strong belief in purity and clung to the little fame they still had left. Severus had bit his tongue after he learned, knowing very well that the date he had been forced to go on would not end in any favorable circumstance if she found out his Half Blood status.

They had dined at a fancy place, one that sat on a river bank and would have otherwise been the start to a romantic night, but Severus couldn't make himself feel that disaster was hiding. It became more prominent when Sandra had snuffed her nose when they entered the place.

"It's too dark." She had commented. "Be a dear, see if they can turn up the lights."

Before long, their table had been cleared and he watched as she scrutinized the silverware. She picked up her cloth napkin, giving her fork a rub down and smiled sheepishly.

"Water spots." She said. "Silly habit, I know."

Severus sighed, looking over the menu to take his mind off as she examined her glass next.

"Lucius tells me your in the potion business." She said next. Severus raised his eyes.

"Mmm." He agreed, she nodded soundly.

"Have you done it for long?"

"It's been my life's work." He answered, returning to his menu. When he couldn't take her incessant shifting, he folded the menu and placed it aside. The date had been decided for him and he was too inebriated to say otherwise and he had to admit, anything was better than Dorine Peesy. His goal was to get through it and let her down easily at the end of the night. The first step he decided on was to not say much, easy enough for him to do seeing as he neither cared nor wanted to hear what she had to say. He'd answer her questions, and that was that.

"I've always been fascinated with the subtitle art of potion making, myself. Was one of my favorite subjects in school." She beamed. Severus repressed a groan, the line fed to her by Lucius as a way to break boundaries he was certain.

"It is taken for granted." Severus agreed. She fiddled with her hair. The waiter came, took their order and returned moments later with wine that Severus drank immediately. She tasted hers and made a face.

"As reputable as this place is, I'm surprised they even allow this on their menu. Liquid sawdust, it's all it is." She leaned back in her chair and raised her hand catching the attention of the waiter. Severus bunkered down in his seat, listening to her complain openly. His thoughts had wandered, uninterested in the complaint. For the moment, he was embarrassed to say the least, not one for causing scenes. He imagined Hermione would have been satisfied with the choice, then scolded himself for letting her enter his mind.

"I said they should take their guests concerns into better consideration, am I right?" Sandra had used her foot to feel his leg, pulling him out of his daydream and he lifted his eyebrows.

"The nerve of some people." He said dryly, taking in the last of his wine, pulling out of her reach. They remained in silence. The food came, and she of course had something to say about her pasta topped with a heaping serving of lobster; the noodles weren't cooked enough. She put on a show, calling the waiter over, prompting him to take a bit of her food, then asked for the manager. All of it making Severus wish to find a hole in which he could hide. By the end of the meal, he had planned to forget the ease in which he'd leave and plain out apparate when they reached the door. If first impressions were anything, Sandra was as high maintenance as they came, from her perfectly manicured nails, to her elaborate hair style, finishing with her distaste for the plate of inedible grub placed in front of her. Severus had rushed to pay the bill, disappointed that he'd just wasted the amount owed on such a woman, and rose from his seat. He promptly made his way to the door, faltering as Sandra rushed to his side and grabbed a hold of his arm, taking away any hope he had for leaving on his own.

"It's a shame." She had said when the wintertime breeze had hit them, causing her to tuck closer into his arm. "You hear all these good reviews, plan to have a great meal, only to have it end up in disaster, and with their kitchen run by a bunch of clueless Mudbloods to boot!"

Severus' lip raised in a sneer, but she didn't seem to see. Her sights were set straight ahead. His shaking of his arm was taken as a shift, and she maneuvered his arm around her, holding onto his waist.

"Should just do away with the lot of them. Better off as food for Dementors than taking up space."

Severus stopped walking, he turned awkwardly in her arms and grabbed them, removing them. He was glaring, attempting to still keep whatever class he still had.

"My apologies, but this is not going to work." He hissed. She stared at him, aghast, her jaw dropping open.

"You're one of them Muggle lovers, aren't you?" She wiggled out of his grasp, "The nerve! You do realize the importance of our kind, do you not?"

Severus didn't answer. He had glanced off to his right, seeing a run down bookshop and a frizzy haired woman step out of it. She had given him one look with her chocolate eyes, then blushed as she turned in an obvious direction she hadn't meant to go. Sandra had seen her, and she threw a finger in her direction, recognizing her.

"It's people like her that twist the society views all askew! Sure, fight an activist, praise the house elves that have no rights but to serve us, but when it comes down to the pure's, the ones who are responsible for obtaining the wizarding world, the ones responsible for our kind in the first place and it's-"

All but shoving Sandra away from him, he took a brisk speed, down the alley he saw Hermione dodge into. She squeaked when he turned around the corner, almost as if she hadn't expected him to follow, and now that he was there, he hadn't any idea what to say, or how to act. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he glanced back around the corner, watching as Sandra drew her shoulders to her ears and huffed away. Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, turned back to Hermione.

"Enjoyable date?" She asked. Severus rolled his eyes.

"Quite the opposite." He answered. Hermione seemed to look pleased for a flash of a second, and Severus cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry." He blurted out before the moment escaped him.

"For what?" She asked, tilting her head. Severus shrugged, hoping that apologizing would cover it.

"For...whatever I did that turned you away..."

Hermione studied him blankly.

"...and for that piece of work..." He glanced around the corner again, seeing Sandra had left. Hermione was obviously bothered by her when he looked at her again, but she didn't say much.

"I'm just mystified that you'd allow yourself to be seen in public with such a person." Hermione said, Severus winced.

"Had I of any say, the date would have never happened."

"Is that so?" Hermione crossed her arms. Severus felt a twinge of panic build under her judgmental stare.

"Lucius had requested it of me."

"Oh he did, did he?" Hermione had crained her neck questioningly. "And why's that?"

Severus worked his mouth a bit before his voice worked. Mainly he was forming words to keep any mention, or any splinter of a hint toward a promise out of it.

"Your sudden leave had left me in a state he figured another woman would help me." Were the words right? They didn't feel exactly right coming from his lips, and the look on Hermione's face that took on more amusement than anything began to worry him. He didn't know why it worried him, it just did.

"I wasn't aware we were in a position that warranted giving each other whereabouts." She smiled coyly. Severus paled.

"We aren't!" He quickly defended. "I mean, I don't think we are, are we?" Hermione's continued stare unnerved him. "I just expected to speak with you and you weren't there and I was worried that you-" He sucked in a lungful of air. "Where were you anyway?" He asked. Hermione cracked a small smile.

"So interested in my location suddenly?" She giggled as he reddened. "As it was the Christmas season, I spent some time with my mum and dad, surely you can understand my absence."

"Oh." Severus hadn't known what to expect, though he had not even considered she had gone to Austrailia. "Oh," he said again, straightening up his stance. "I hope you enjoyed your time?"

"Yes, it was nice watching them from afar." She rolled her eyes. "Not as pleasant as I wanted it to be, but seemed to be just enough."

Severus sighed, glad that it hadn't been him to cause her vacancy, and now felt badly for being seen on a date, with such a badly drawn woman nonetheless. Hermione bit her lip for a moment, looking at him curious.

"Seems you've filled your time nicely." She said. "Keeping in company of...interesting individuals."

Severus groaned. "Honestly if it hadn't been for your departure, Sandra and I probably would have never happened."

"My departure?" Hermione mused.

"Yes." It came out more a question than a statement. "I mean, I wouldn't have if you had been here."

Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Are we suddenly exclusive?" She giggled as he stuttered. "A couple of dates and suddenly your stuck with me as the only option?"

"Well yes, I mean no...obviously we're still free to-it's not that I wouldn't have preferred-if I hadn't-I shouldn't have-". Severus huffed. Hermione had laughed lightly, but it was just enough to bruise his ego. Severus rounded an eyebrow, tugged on his vest. "Good night Miss Granger." He turned, unable to face her another moment. She had made him fluster, something he had never shown to anyone, and couldn't face her for another moment. He turned quickly, and disapparated to the safety of his own home before she could say another word.


	11. Chapter 11

Hermione had seen him coming, stuck up her nose and turned around. He felt like a right arse, and fought to close the distance between them, pushing aside groups of kids that gathered haphazardly in his way. Hermione failed to note him coming toward her, and when he reached her, she barely looked at him.

"May I have a moment?" Severus said, quietly. Hermione turned her shoulder to him. Severus stepped around. "I have no explanation for my actions the other night. I wasn't in the right mood." She turned, her shoulder still aimed at him. Severus turned with her again. "Miss Granger, please, I'm sorry."

"Alright kids, let's line up, you know the way!" Hermione yelled to the groups that had gathered, her instruction pulling the strictest of compliancy from them as they began to move their way out of the castle grounds and along the trail that would lead them to Hogsmeade, and just when he thought she would continue to ignore him, sent him a fleeting look over her shoulder as she followed behind the kids. Severus watched her for a second, let her get a few steps in front of him, before following. She had stopped looking over her shoulder when he followed, and moved along the group to split up a few rowdy males near the front. Minerva stepped up beside him.

"Be careful." She said. Severus raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Minerva narrowed her eyes.

"I can see what's going on and I just have to say be careful. You know how the last heartbreak was, I couldn't bear to see it happen again."

"The last-" Severus looked to Hermione. The woman showed no signs of heartbreak, none that he knew of anyway. She seemed bright, albeit a little lonely, but for the most part there wasn't ever a twinkle in her eye he could see that spoke of such a thing happening.

"You, Severus." Minerva said. Severus jumped, slightly shocked.

"Me? You've nothing to worry about, Minerva."

"You fall hard, if you haven't noticed. Hermione can be a spitfire or so I'm told. I'm just scared that if anyone gets hurt in any relationship you two may start, I'm afraid it's going to be you getting hurt." She pouted slightly. "Would you be able to stand a second downfall?"

Severus twitched when she pointed out her doubts about him, though in all honesty, he wasn't sure he'd last through a second heartbreak either. Lily had taken him this long to get over, at the time he had at least something tangable that he could focus all his emotions on to make the pain worthwhile. This time, he was just playing on his lonliness...well that and a silly bet he had made, but beyond that, now considering what could happen if it didn't work out, if he allowed himself to jump into this, feet first, would he swim or just sink?

"Hermione's quite impressed by you, Severus. You're all she's talked about since term began. I hope you know what you're doing."

"She is?" He sounded hopeful. "She's actually talking about me?"

"Does that shock you?" Minerva almost giggled.

"Well...yes, it does actually. I hadn't expected her to be mentioning me to many people."

"Well she has." She smiled brightly at Severus, patting his back with a hand. "And though I'm worried about your feelings, I shall have you know, if you hurt my cub, Severus, we're going to have problems."

"I hope it never comes to that." Severus gulped. He had seen Minerva protective of her favorites before and had even been on the deserving side of the wand once, but had a feeling if it dealt with the heart of Hermione, whatever reprocussions were going to be twice as bad.

"Then see to it, it doesn't."

Severus paused for a moment, watching Hermione as she disappeared further in front of him. Minerva glanced sidelong at him, then she quickened her step, moving to the middle of the group. He continued his usual slow stride at the back. Hermione had talked about him. His skin prickled in slight worry, hoping she had put him into a favorable light instead of complaining about the faults he had shown in the past. It didn't bother him so much that others had been made privy of their sudden taking to each other, though he had hoped their secret would have lasted a few more dates. With people knowing he only felt more pressured to achieve something.

They reached the eccentric little town of Hogsmeade, the students stampeding into Honeydukes for their sugar fix. He had lost sight of Hermione, but knew very well that the professors spent most of their time inside The Three Broomsticks, and made his way in. A few tables had already been taken by those students who fancied a warm glass of Butterbeer over mulling through the shops, and along one of the far walls, he saw her. She sat alone, facing the children, watching them mindfully as she sipped from her own glass of creamy orange liquid. Approaching her, she didn't turn away, but rather looked smug as he pulled a stool out beside her and sat down.

"Hi." He said. She watched him over the rim of her glass.

"Hi." She replied, leaning on the counter beside her to face him, crossing her legs. Severus took in a lungful of air, ready to begin groveling at her feet, but Madam Rosmerta announced her arrival rather loudly.

"Severus! It's been ages since you've graced us with your presence. Years."

"Indeed it has." Severus held his breath, wishing she would leave promptly. Instead, Rosmerta waved her hand, summoning over a Butterbeer for him and set it down between him and Hermione. Hermione had taken to watching the students again, Severus sighed.

"I've heard you're doing pretty well for yourself. The Wallow's, you know, come in here every so often and just talk novels about your potions. They're looking fine, just fine, very young."

Severus' lip curled. The Wallow's, a very rich family had never treated him with as much respect as he would have liked. They were the kind to only converse by association and any time he stepped foot into their homestead felt only the facetious welcome extended to make business work.

"It's all in the Mandrake Root." Severus spoke with less intensity he could have; usually a talk about potions would stir up excitement in him, but seeing as Hermione had moved from her bar stool, now wandering over to Professor Flitwick and had started conversing only made him aggravated. He turned his attention fully on Rosmerta. She beamed.

"It really is good to see you. Shouldn't stay away for so long, we've got a lot of catching up to do." She said. Severus grabbed his Butterbeer, took a sip and nodded.

"We'll have to set a time." He rose from his seat, using the back of his hand to gently push Rosmerta aside. "Now, if you'd excuse me."

Rosemerta stepped aside, furrowing her brow at Severus. He didn't care, wanting to speak with Hermione and was bound and determined to get her attention even if it meant being rude to some of the people he'd consider a friend.

"Oh Severus, great of you to join us." Flitwick grew a smile under the moustache that hung below his upper lip. Even sitting, he only reached the middle of his thigh and Severus' neck began to cramp having to stare down at him. He rolled his eyes over to Hermione who looked entertained and he pleaded with her silently but she did not seem to understand. Turning back to Flitwick, Hermione began speaking, picking up their conversation where it had left off.

"...I think you're right. Putting a boundary up at the Forbidden Forest would help with the students venturing too far."

"I've been after Dumbledore to do it for years, and now McGonagal. I really don't think it's bound to happen, but lest we can try, right?" The dwarf laughed, raised his glass, and slammed back whatever it was he was drinking. Hermione lifted her glass and delicately toasted the air. She turned to Severus.

"You wished to talk?" She asked. Severus nodded. Hermione looked at him expectantly, then after the wait got too long, Severus tilted his head away from the group they formed.

"It would be better to speak in private." Severus suggested. Hermione rose, said her farewell to Flitwick and led the way to a quiet part of the tavern. She turned, still showing interest.

"I hope you don't think me a prat for being seen with someone like Sandra. That was a mistake." He started.

"I should hope so." Hermione pressed her lips together. "I can understand her appealing nature though, she is quite beautiful."

"She is." Severus agreed, then caught a flash of judgment flash through Hermione's eyes. He sputtered. "I mean yes, she is beautiful-was beautiful-but just a rue to trap unsuspecting fools like myself." His cover didn't seem to help, Hermione's look only darkened. "It will never happen again, I swear."

"Look, Severus. I don't mind if you want to see other people, it's not like we're exclusive."

Severus wasn't expecting that much to be said so freely in a public place. He looked around, wondering if there were any curious ears he'd have to scourgify later. Satisfied that no one had heard, he turned back to Hermione.

"My thoughts exactly." He said, relieved that she wasn't angry he had taken another date, but at the same time feeling a bit disappointed that she had said it so honestly. "However, if you'd li-"

"-There you are." Minerva joined them again. Severus tensed under the interruption, stiffly turning his attention onto Minerva. She didn't seem to realize that she had just walked into a private discussion and she gripped his arm. "I was meaning to ask you earlier, but it slipped my mind." She put fingers to her temple. "The mind of an aging witch, eh?" She twittered a bit in her own fun, then became serious again. "Next month, we'll be needing that substitute."

Severus' twitched, the interruption for something that could be talked about over owls or even through the floo was just unimportant right now. His teeth gritted together and he concentrated on keeping calm.

"I don't wish to push your limits, but there's also a few days until the end of the year that will need coverage."

Hermione nudged him.

"You should take it."

He exchanged looks with her, seeing her intently urging him on. He relaxed unwillingly, huffing slightly.

"Alright!" He barked. "Fine. Fine, I'll do it. If it means in Merlin's name I can have five minutes alone to speak with Miss Granger without being interrupted every two seconds, I'll do it." He turned back to Hermione. "Will you please contact me when those five minutes can be found?"

She was biting her lip, not in shame, but in some kind of sick sense of carnality.

As soon as he had left The Three Broomsticks he felt relief, no longer surrounded by people he detested, as free as the sky above him, yet he had walked out on her again. His feet wouldn't let him move forward any more, sticking to the ground as if the step had been smeared with pitch. He should go back in, magnifying static sprung from his back seemingly drawing him back to the Broomsticks, but he refused.

No.

He thought.

No. I made my move, if Granger wishes to speak with me, she can come find me for a change.

He pried his feet up, and stepped off the doorway of The Three Broomsticks, planning on stewing, damning the ground all the way back to the castle. He had only made it a few feet before his hand was grabbed, tugged, then dropped. He turned to see who had grabbed him, but was stunned, literally frozen solid as a kiss was pressed lightly and fleetingly on his lips. When she pulled back, he watched Hermione smile at him.

"Meet me back in my classroom. We can talk there." She winked, the small movement of her eye breaking the stiffness he developed and found his head worked, bobbing forward and back as she left.

"Alright." He whispered. "...Alright."


	12. Chapter 12

The talk had lasted only mere minutes, but enough had been said that eased his worry; she didn't hate him, only if he kept apologizing, and to brighten the mood she had agreed to a date. Not one of those 'if you aren't doing anything' premises, but an actual date. He had to conceal his nervous excitement at their parting, not wanting her to feel how sweaty his palms had gotten and hoped she didn't notice the shakiness that took him over, or the flushed tint to his face that he was sure had happened. As she brought him into a consolatory hug, he had even managed to squish the part of his face, where his lips met his dimples, to her cheek and considered it as a good try.

But now, after a few weeks had passed since their last meeting, the courage he had built up in that moment wavered. There she was, sitting next to him, her eyes trained on the Muggle movie that played on the screen in front of them, and he had missed most of it. The experience had initially been breathtaking, seeing that large screen on the wall in the theater had made his head swirl when the pictures, previews, and movie had started, but not even five minutes into it he found his mind racing with the thought of holding her hand.

Easy does it. He told himself, rubbing his hand on the slacks he chose to wear in lieu of his wizarding robes...something Hermione had told him not to wear as it would bring staring. The moisture from his hand clung to his slacks, and though it probably wasn't, felt like glue.

Just lift your hand and place it on hers. He instructed himself. His hand lifted, though heavily, then fell on the armrest that divided the seat between them. Her hand was still twelve inches away, resting on her leg. He pressed his back into the seat and trained his eyes on the screen, taking in a deep breath.

That's it, now just reach over and-something happened on the screen, a face appeared unexpectedly in a window, startling everyone and pulled a few muffled screams from the audience. He hadn't meant to jump, being so close and nearly ready to make the first big move of showing his affections, but the jump had recoiled his hand back into himself. While those around him laughed, he sneered. The person sitting next to him caught his eye and grinned widely.

"They got me too." He whispered, chuckling as he threw a handful of popcorn between his jaws. Severus settled back in his seat, wiggling the tension out of his shoulders. The movie had been a slasher film, the term being unknown to him, and he had let Hermione choose. The woman really did have a unique taste in 'entertainment.' There were two people on the screen, he was certain they had been main characters but hadn't paid enough attention to notice.

Give it the 'ol college try. His hand rested on the armrest again, he sucked in a breath, raised his hand, reached out and barely placed it on Hermione's hand when she jumped, startled. He pulled back into himself again. She turned, giggling.

"Don't scare me." She whispered, smiling, then turned her attention back to the screen.

It's okay. He told himself. The next scare, grab her. Reach out, put your arm around her and it'll be done.

But there wasn't another scare. The end of the movie rolled the credits, and his chance of consoling her during a pivotal moment had been wasted. He hadn't even caught onto the plot of the movie, most of it having been filled with coming up with a way to hold her without coming off like an eager creep. Romance had never been a strong suit, he had no figure to base courage off of, and before he could wallow in much self doubt, Hermione had risen. Severus stood as well as they made their way to the exit.

"So?" Hermione asked when they reached the outside.

"It was interesting." Severus said, sure his opinion would have been otherwise if he had paid attention.

"Interesting?" Hermione gasped. "It was quite frightful in my opinion." She shuddered. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight."

"I could give you some sleeping draught." Severus offered, then as he replayed the words in his head, noticing it could have been taken as a suggestion, refused to let the embarrassment show.

Damnit. Damnit, Severus, opportunity wasted.

She grabbed his arm with both her hands and laughed, saying no more. He wondered if she pitied him just then, giving him a line and he blew it. They continued onward.

The restaurant he had chosen specialized in fish, and due to the Valentine season being that week, there had been paper hearts and streamers strung along the ceiling, other couples had filled the waiting space and the tables surrounding them. Pressure was all it was for Severus, and as soon as they were seated, his mind had wandered to her hand again. A hand that delicately rested on the table in the space between them, her long fingers gently rapping the table as she decided from a long list of specials. He slyly watched a young couple next to him, the male was sitting next to his woman and has so effortlessly reached an arm around and tucked it around her waist. He tried channeling his strength and looked back to Hermione who was staring at him, a light smile playing on her face.

"It's not going to bite you." She said. Severus' chest tightened. Was he really being that obvious in his inner struggle? She gently flipped her hand over, her fingers curving gently upward, and with her slight coaxing managed to grab her hand. It was surprisingly soft and warm. The tips of the fingers were a little chilly, but the rest of her hand was quite cozy in his. She gave it a squeeze and his face lit up.

"I'm quite a bit out of practice. Used to other people squirming under my touch." He explained. Those he had been forced to touch under his time as a Death Eater, for obvious reasons, fought any little brush that came against them. His memories otherwise had the girls running from him, claiming he had cooties, or that his stench was catching and didn't want to be marked. Hermione frowned slightly.

"Haven't you had many girlfriends?" She asked? Severus nearly laughed, but succumbed to staring into his drink and shaking his head.

"I'm afraid not." His free hand fiddled with the white linen table cloth. "I've had a few dates, back when grabbing hands was easier to do, but those females never reciprocated the action." He had found on a few occasions that the girls were battered into a date with him, talked into the date by mutual friends and they accepted on pity.

"They obviously didn't deserve you." She said, her words lifting the corners of his mouth into a sheepish grin. She squeezed his hand again. "And unlike those girls, I won't pull away."

The words were foreign to him and as such, wasn't quite sure how to react. He settled on a content stare.

"Tell me,". He said. "How about you? Your past suitors?"

"Well Ron and I lasted for a few months. Disaster if there ever was one. He just wasn't stimulating enough, or maybe I was too insufferable for our own good." She smiled lightly. "It ended mutually when they became Aurors and I decided to go to Uni. There I dated William Fogrin. It was wonderful, but almost a year into it I realized he was only using me for the reputation and slight fame I had after the war ended. He was a nerd, into wizarding history and potions chemistry. Claimed that banging me would thrust his name into the books...as soon as he finished the one he was writing. It was a messy ending and after that I had just given up on the dating thing."

Severus shook his head, understanding how much of a shock it must have been for her finding out she was being used. He had put up with both Dumbledore and Voldemort using him for seven long years, and it had left a dirty taste in his mouth. He tilted his head, wondering a simple question, hoping she wouldn't take offense to it when he asked it.

"Why did-I mean the ball...and Christmas...-you could have easily said no. Why did you agree to attend with me?" He braced for an outburst, one of any kind but he was met with a sheepish shrug.

"Minerva just seemed so set on is attending the ball together, I don't think backing out was an option even if I wanted to. That whole week, the only thing she seemed to speak about with me was how proud she was of the both of us and how arriving together, Hogwarts two most influential people of the decade would raise morale and bring about a breath of fresh air a kind of patching up if you will."

"She was always persuasive like that." Severus chimed in. He hadn't noticed he started until Hermione had looked at their hands, but his thumb had lightly began to brush against her knuckles. Her face warmed.

"I did have a great time, ankle and all, and was a little saddened you left so quickly. I have a secret to tell you." She bit her bottom lip as if she was deciding whether or not to actually reveal said secret. Severus waited patiently.

"I sabotaged the pilot light. It was working fine, but snubbed it out to have a reason to get you over there." A pained, playful grin fell on her face. "I found it the easiest way to judge the situation based on fate."

"I thought you didn't believe in that stuff." Severus smiled smugly, feeling a bit honored she'd thought of the situation, actually planned it to happen that way. Hermione shook her head.

"I don't. Not really anyway. I just figured I'd open a doorway and see if it led to anything else and it did." She hesitated. "It was more romantic sounding than the truth."

"The truth?" Severus inclined his head. She shifted her look to the table setting, then back to him.

"I was lonely."

...

A/N: planned for this chapter to be longer but life is quite busy this week and didn't want you guys waiting too long for the next update. My sister's wedding is fast approaching, and helping family build their deck on top of work and filling craft orders, I'll try writing as much as possible but posting may be slow this week. Hang in there!


	13. Chapter 13

Coffee is a funny thing; having a date at a coffee shop usually means just that, a way to gather with the person of choice and talk about anything and everything. When mentioned after the fact, the innocent act of sitting over two cups of piping hot Java loses its meaning, becoming a cover up for other activities. Severus had asked Hermione when they left the restaurant if she'd like a cup, and at that time only half-meant for things to go further, but the magic of the night swept them away, turning the brave kiss Severus had initiated in a safe corner for apparating, lasting through the process and then afterward when they had safely arrived back in his small two story row home. The kiss had grown deeply, going from a meek try into a deep and passionate battle between them. Even with his eyes closed, he kept her tight as she held both arms around his neck. Before long they ended up in his bedroom, swimming in a pile of arms and legs, breath mixing and forming sweet trails from lips to ears, covering the neck like an invisible scarf. Hermione had been the one to stop it before it had gone too far, breaking away to stare adoringly into his eyes, her head propped on an arm that was thrown casually over his chest. They remained that way, falling asleep at the same time and Severus could only dream of her.

When he awoke the next morning, he had found her awake, using pillows to sit back on propped up against the headboard, and she was reading a paper. He watched her, admiring the fact that she still looked beautiful first thing in the morning, and found it hard to see her any other way. She reached out a hand, carefully drawing a promised cup of coffee to her lips and blew across the surface before taking a sip. She put the cup back down, grabbed the paper that had sagged without her touch, and snapped it gently back into position. Severus yawned, stretching out his body from head to toe, and turned into her, his face burying itself into the forest-green down comforter she had pulled up onto her legs, and found himself too comfortable to move. Her fingers played with his hair, pulling through it and threatened to lull him back to sleep. He knew he should move, to sit up next to her, to at least brush his teeth lest she dare kiss him and encounter his morning breath, but there was a comfort he hadn't felt for a long time, resting on her lap and couldn't pull himself away.

"They caught that Mitchel kid." She said after a while, her fingers pausing in their brushing to turn the page, then continued. "Found him in Ireland, disguised himself as an umbrella some muggle was using."

That Mitchel kid had been placed under the spotlight in recent weeks for adorning the Ministry building with a drawing of a smiley face giving very wet raspberries to anyone that walked by it close enough. It took the Ministry one week to fully remove it, and only a day later, it reappeared. They've been battling copy-cat artists ever since. Severus chuckled through a yawn.

"It's about time." He sighed, leaning into Hermione's fingers as she scratched lightly at a spot behind his ear, then forced himself to move before the feeling became too good. He propped himself up onto his elbows, staring at the paper until she moved it away. Locked in her eyes again, he lifted onto all fours and kissed her gently, unable to hold it back, then rolled off the bed. He threw open the blinds and stretched his hands above his head as he looked out the window. Early morning, the sun had gone through the rising phase and had brightened the usually gloomy street his bedroom window looked down upon. He felt Hermione hugging him from the back and turned awkwardly to wrap his arms around her. Placing his chin on her head, he glanced around his room. It wasn't anything to brag about, carrying the same kind of destitution that the rest of his home had. He never had a reason to adorn it with nice things, or buy anything that would turn his otherwise bare habitat into something more formal. He hoped Hermione didn't cringe upon seeing it for the first time, wondering if it would have any impact on how she envisioned his way of life. He had class, he only preferred to spend his hard earned money on other things than material belongings.

"It's a perfect day for a picnic." Hermione spoke into his chest as her forehead was pressed against it.

"It's also a perfect day to stay cuddled in a warm bed." Severus mused. Hermione grinned.

"That's more of a rainy day activity, isn't it?" She leaned around him, turning him so they could remain hugging and looked out of the window. "Just look at it out there. Sunny, last of the comfortable days for a while. We could go sit by the lake and feed each other cherries..."

Severus knew he wouldn't win his want to stay in, giving up without pressing the matter. He kissed the top of her head, speaking into her hair.

"The lake?" He asked. Hermione nodded. "Please don't tell me the one at Hogwarts."

"Well I do eventually have to go back. Sunday's only last for so long." Hermione pouted slightly. "There's a spot on the far side. No one would see us." Her pout faded as Severus gave in, his eyes rolling and his shoulders shrugging. She stood on tip-tie to kiss him once more, then disappeared into the bathroom.

...

The lake, no matter where Hermione decided to take them, never had a sour spot. Each angle was like a picture, perfect no matter how it was seen. She had chosen a spot on a further side, but not as far away as Severus would have cared for. The castle was still in view, and the clearing she had brought them to was mighty revealing. It's not that he minded, knowing the lunch hour on a Sunday would give them relative peace and quiet, but he still felt vulnerable. They managed to get one sandwich in at least before they were rudely-in Severus's views anyway-interrupted.

"'Mione! Severus, good teh see yeh." Hagrid had appeared from the tree line quietly, given his size that fact had been impressive, but Severus scowled at his arrival, scooting away from Hermione as surreptitiously as he could, dropping Hermione's hand that he'd been holding on the ground between them instantly as the giant approached. Hermione huffed at him, but made no movement to grab it back.

"Good afternoon, Hagrid." Hermione greeted him. "Out for a stroll?"

"Gatherin' Horklumps actually. Need them ter feed th' gnomes."

"You're not considering gnomes magical creatures, are you?" Severus asked. Hagrid shook his head.

"No, I use them th' barter, see. 'S matin' season an' they're fond o' th' Quidditch Pitch if yeh remember, so I gather th' Horklumps so they leave th' pitch alone."

"Ah." Severus looked back down to the basket of food Hermione had prepared, seeing no other place to look. Hagrid didn't seem to take the hint he was done speaking and continued on.

"I hear yeh may be returnin' to teach?"

Severus held back a grumble.

"That is correct." He answered shortly.

"Tha's great! Th' students need a little scare. Gettin' too comf'table if yeh ask me." Hagrid let out a rumble, then continued stepping around them. "I've to get back to collectin'. Good ter see yeh again, Severus. Hermione." He waved a large hand, and made for the trees. Severus watched as he left.

"What do you think he means, 'scare?'" He asked when Hagrid could no longer be seen. Hermione sighed, amused.

"Though standards are still upheld, no one could bring silence to the classroom like you could." She answered, grinning, and watching her toes as they tapped together. She lifted a hand, taking Severus' again.

"I hope my reputation hasn't been tarnished over the years of my absence." Severus said, looking around their perimeter before allowing himself to fit Hermione's hand in his better. "I still demand strict attention. No room for dawdling and daydreaming in my class."

"They have a reality check coming." Hermione agreed. "It'll be a shock, but I'm certain they'll learn to accept you. After all, I had no problem paying attention, I'm sure they won't either."

"Ah, but see, you're Miss Granger, the student who went down in history for being able to pay attention through anything. We never doubted your ability to learn and often wished there were more dedicated students like you." Severus gave a small wink, watching Hermione's cheeks turn a light pink. Hermione grabbed another sandwich and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Oh shut up." She teased, taking a bite from her own. They ate in silence for a few minutes, watching as the sun caught on the water, rippling with a slight breeze. Severus had to admit, this was a good idea.

...

A/N: So my sisters wedding was simply beautiful! And now that it's done, I should be getting back to a more normal posting schedule. Thanks for sticking through it with me =^^=


	14. Chapter 14

A Licorice Wand was placed on his desk. He glanced up slowly, seeing a brown haired girl with a welcome smile as she pushed the wand closer to him. It grew wider, then she hopped away. There was a boy behind her, extending a Chocolate Frog to him, but he did not take it. The boy placed it beside the wand, gave a nod, then scurried back to his seat. Another girl, this one a red head with buck teeth placed another Chocolate Frog in front of him, scared, and scurried away. This continued until all the students had presented him with a gift, all of it candy, a pile of it so large, some toppled off the desk and onto the floor. He watched silently, an eyebrow raising.

They've lost their minds.

He ignored the candy pile, and as soon as the class ended, promptly waved his wand and vanished it. The next class had brought the same treatment, forming a new candy pile at the corner of his desk. The students said nothing, remaining silent as they stacked their candy, then returned to their seat. It worried Severus at how quiet the students were, remembering them to be snickering and whispering quietly in his past. Now? They were giving him their attention, taking down notes, barely even flinching when he'd call upon them to read or to answer a question. When a burly-looking Hufflepuff couldn't answer which counter-spell protects against a vertigo, the ease in which the student disappointed him, so respectfully, so earnestly, Severus felt a pang of remorse. Had he lost his touch? The students didn't seem to fear him.

When the lunch hour approached, he walked along behind a group of students, girls that were giggling quietly that had caught site of him when he rounded a corner. One of the girls turned, unexpectedly.

"Professor?" She asked after Severus nearly ran into her. He drew himself up to full height and arched a brow, questioningly. She cracked a small smile, handing to him a package of Bertie Botts.

"I have your class later, but I want to give you this now." She shoved the jelly beans at him, he refused to take them, stuffing his hands into his pockets, eyes narrowing as she pouted slightly.

"Is there a new tradition I am unaware of?" Severus asked, the girl pulled her arm back slowly and shook her head.

"N-no...I'm confused, Professor."

"Every student has brought to me a gift."

The girl smiled softly again.

"Professor Granger told us you like candy." She explained. "She said you were less likely to assign us homework with a good stock."

Severus lifted his other eyebrow to match the other. He drew his chin into his neck.

"Oh she did?" He let his eyebrows run over the crowd of students that began to gather, each of them fishing candy from their robes. He spotted Filch standing at the edge of the hallway, and gained his attention. They walked toward each other, meeting in the middle.

"Didn't expect to see you back here, Severus." Filch said, smiling in a way that looked painful. Severus nodded.

"Indeed. Tell me, you wouldn't happen to still have that trick wand you've knicked from the Weasley twins would you?"

"Oh I'm sure I do." Filch answered, rocking back on his heels. "What do you have in mind?"

The students were gathering closer. It didn't take much more than a glance to each of them before Filch was leading the way to his office. Filch searched through the boxes of trinkets he had confiscated over the years, one of them labels 'Weasley' though the letters were worn and dusty. He located the trick wand within minutes, handing it to Severus carefully.

"I'm not sure if it's been tampered with." Filch said. "I would love to say the students mind their own business and stay out of here, but unfortunately I've caught a fair share trifling through my things in years past."

Severus sent him a sympathetic glance, weighing the wand in his hand. It didn't resemble Hermione's in anyway, looking like your ordinary wand without embellishments of any kind.

"It will serve its purpose." Severus assured him.

...

The armful of candy he had gathered on his walk to the professors lounge was disposed of on the table, and he paid no mind to it after then. He didn't even bring the matter up when he joined the few professors, Hermione included, that stood around a coffee carafe on the far side of the room. He barely had a chance to pour himself a cup before his attention was turned to Minerva. She had placed a light hand on his back.

"Good to see you, Severus." She turned back to the others, Flitwick, the new Muggle Studies professor - a middle aged female wearing a grey pant suit who had her hair pulled back in a knot and wore glasses with chains that swooped near her neck that made her resemble more a librarian than a professor - Sinistra, and a male he had never seen before, though taking an educated guess, was the professor that replaced him upon his leave from teaching.

"I think it would be a great tradition to start. Give the students a way to expel any animosity toward our grueling assignment giving." Sinistra said, and the male professor laughed in agreement.

"Well you can count me out." Hermione said. She gave her head a grand shake to illuminate her point. "I'll happily stay on the ground and referee, but no way will you get me up in a broom."

"We're planing a end of the year student-teacher Quidditch match." Minerva leaned into Dnape and spoke low while the other professors continued. Severus rolled his eyes slightly.

"Sounds thrilling." He said unenthusiastically.

"Severus can have my spot." Hermione chimed in, winking at him. Severus was about to decline, but the male had shoved his hand near his chest.

"So I finally get to meet the infamous Severus Snape. I'm Tommy Everett."

Severus glared at the hand, but shook it cordially then wrapped it tightly around his mug.

"Miss Granger here tells me you were most influential during her time as a student. I only hope my standards for their learning can compete with yours."

"Tom." Hermione sighed, exasperated. She looked at Severus apologetically. Severus furrowed his brow. Deciding not to indulge any further in the conversation, he turned his head, bidding to leave. His unfinished cup of coffee was placed next to the candy, and he found himself back in the hallways. Hermione had followed him, jogging to catch up, then slowed to a walk.

"I hope he didn't run you off." She said.

"No." Severus answered. "He didn't." It was the truth, at least at that point in time. Any more spent in that situation and maybe the circumstances of his departure would have been different. "I didn't feel the need to be there any longer than necessary."

"Walk me back to my classroom?" Hermione asked. Severus nodded, following as she took an immediate turn down a hallway.

"This Quidditch game, I'm certain they'd love to have you." Hermione said as they walked. "They still consider you part of the staff you know. I hear you're pretty good on a broom, too."

"No need to brag, but yes, they are correct." Severus smirked. He had never joined the team when he was a student, but had thoroughly enjoyed playing the game during the summer.

"So it's settled then. You're taking my position." Hermione said, removing any reason for doubt. Severus grumbled, but allowed it.

She led him into the Transfiguration classroom which hadn't changed at all since his last visit there. Desks still in the same position, the blackboard still sat at the back of the room, the archaic smell still present.

Duro was written upon the board, a spell used to turn things to stone. His hand patted his pocket where the trick wand was placed, and curiously, wanting to get her to reveal her wand more than to actually see the spell, asked her to demonstrate.

"Seeing you perform even the simplest of spells is a work of art." Severus said, sure he was sounding rather pushy. She pulled her wand, however, and pointed it at a piece of parchment left on a desk.

"Duro." She spoke, the parchment turned from paper, to a slab of stone. He feigned being impressed.

"Elegance at its finest." He said, Hermione wrinkled her nose.

"It's a fourth year spell. I prefer something more definitive when it comes to elegance."

Severus held out his hand, wiggling his fingers for her wand.

"May I?" He asked. "I left my wand back in my desk." It was a lie, his wand was where he always kept it, in the same pocket that currently held the trick wand, but he needed to see her wand closely before his retaliation could prove itself useful. She handed over her wand, and he went to a quill that stood from a case on her desk. He tapped it, changing the quill into a Dahlia, much like the one he had given her at the Christmas Ball. He handed it to Hermione, who blushed as she took it. She smelled it, letting her eyes twinkle at him over its petals. Only the announcement of a student caused her to look away.

"Oh. Excuse me." She said, lowering the flower, but didn't let it go. "I have a meeting." She smiled softly at him before greeting the student, bringing her into the separate room that served as her office. Severus only took a moment before placing Hermione's wand down on the desk before him. He pulled the trick wand out and say it next to hers. One simple spell later, and the trick wand mirrored Hermione's. He hid her actual wand and his back in his pocket and approached the office, knocking lightly before opening the door. Hermione looked up expectantly, but he only returned the wand to her, and left, an unseen grin on his face. Let the games begin.


	15. Chapter 15

"Granger, eh? She sure is something else." Tommy Everett was leaning casually on the counter, a tall beveled glass of some green mashed liquid in his hand. Severus was surprised his coffee cup was holding under the pressure in which he was strangling it. Stopping in for a quick boost of caffeine between classes was probably not the best idea. Had he of known Tommy was there, he would have avoided the lounge altogether. There was just something unspoken about him he didn't care for, and the line he just pulled sealed the putrid flavor in his mouth.

"She is." Severus agreed, growling it low. "A great asset to Hogwarts."

"Precisely. This school needs someone like her. Smart. Enchanting. A jewel to look at."

"You'd do well to look at something else." Severus chirped immediately, then shoved his mug to his lips to silence the rest. Tommy raised his eyebrows, sliding from the counter and leaned his back on it. He took a sip of his mush.

"What is that?" He asked. "I don't mean any harm. Looking never hurt anyone, but you have to admit, she's a piece I wouldn't mind wooing again."

Severus coughed, choking on the hot liquid.

"Again?" He asked, grabbing a towel from the dispenser and dabbed it on the front of his robes where coffee had spilled. He was rubbing vigorously, a little too vigorously.

"Haven't you heard?" He asked. "We're old university pals. Go back years. I've had a round or two...if you know what I mean." He hooked his arm and flapped his elbow a few times catching Severus and slopped more coffee out of his mug. Severus growled.

"If you please, I would rather not bathe in my coffee." He rubbed more with his cloth. Tommy started, placing his glass down and grabbed a wand from within his robes.

"Sorry, here, let me."

Severus recognized the wand and panicked, but was too slow to stop him. Tommy had said a cleaning spell, perfectly even with a precise flourish, but the trick wand had a mind of its own. In an explosion of light, Severus was left with torn robes. The places damp from coffee had torn, leaving ragged holes. The bottom of his pants were frayed and his robe was singed, smoldering from the slight explosion. Tommy bit back an obvious laugh. Severus stood there, letting the past few seconds replay in his mind.

"Oh gosh. I'm...I'm sorry." He clicked his tongue. "I swore I grabbed my wand." He reached into his robes and pulled out his own wand, twiddling it between his fingers. "Would you like me to patch you up?"

"No." Severus whispered, freeing himself from his shocked state and held his hands out to his sides, examining the damage.

Mother of Merlin.

"I'd rather you not." He narrowed his eyes to Tommy. "How did you get Hermione's wand?"

"She said it was acting up and asked me to take a look at it. It was a hobby of mine, in Uni, fixing wands." He rolled the wand in one palm, measuring it in his hand. "I see what she means."

Severus glared at him.

...

Sitting in the quiet classroom, Severus tried clearing his mind of Everett, the professor had leeched into his brain for the past couple of hours and had refused to let go. Knowing he had been with Hermione only heated his distaste toward him even more. Maybe he'd bring it up with Hermione, get the full scoop on the guy before he planned his revenge, for he wouldn't let it go that easily. Maybe he'd make sure he was around and give Hermione a long and romantic kiss right there in front of him, a way to mark his territory, let him know that wooing her would not work. Severus even toyed with the idea to petrify him and leave him in a broom closet, left to Filch to find him the next time the closet would be opened.

Hermione entered, drawing his attention away from his thoughts and he narrowed his eyes at her. She approached carefully, looking smug yet thoughtful.

"I heard what happened." She said, wincing as she came to a stop at the desk. "Are you okay?"

"As well as can be after being marred by a trick wand." He grumbled. "Luckily there's spells to patch torn robes." He stood, presenting his robes that looked as good as new to her before he perched himself on the desk next to her. "Please tell me he was joking about you and him being an item in university."

"Trick wand?" Hermione asked, skipping over his question and let her eyes grow wide. Severus didn't flinch, not feeling the need to. He felt that though the prank was pulled in jest, she deserved it if even in the slightest, a kind of punishment for ever going with a guy like that.

"He's not the one that you mentioned before is he? The one that tried to ride your coat tails to fame?"

"For your information he was nothing but someone I studied with." Hermione knotted her face up. "Trick wand?" She asked again, but Severus paid no attention. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest and continued to study her.

"Studied with in the literal sense, or..." Severus asked. Hermione mirrored him, crossing her own arms.

"Strictly studying. What does it matter anyway, Severus?"

He snorted a large breath out of his nose.

"I just don't care for the guy. He's going on like he had you and that just doesn't...well it isn't something I like to hear coming from colleagues."

"Oh my." Hermione but her lip, smiling. "You're jealous."

"Am not." Severus said, tightening his arms around him and shifted uncomfortably. "I just don't think that caliber of male should even think of you in such ways."

"Are to, and don't deny it. I know you well enough that you would have dropped the subject of you thought otherwise and please explain what you mean by trick wand."

Severus tongued his cheek, watching her. He narrowed his eyes for only a moment before pulling from his robes her actual wand, handing it to her.

"I switched them when you weren't looking, call it revenge for your telling the students to give me candy."

Hermione took her wand, waving it as if she didn't believe him, before pocketing it. She was giggling as she did so, stepping closer to Severus and put her arms around his neck as she leaned against him. Severus didn't move to hold her as he wanted to, still feeling a bit sour.

"If it's any consolation, you had me going. I demonstrated...well tried demonstrating how to make a porcupine out of a hairbrush and I ended up melting the hairbrush all over the desk. And when I tried summoning the lesson on the chalkboard, it drew a cartoon character of George and Fred blowing raspberries at the class. Mortifying really. But I forgive you." She grinned, letting a light kiss land on the top of his nose. Severus' lip twitched as he held back a satisfied smile of his own, and looked away.

"Good." He insisted. "Should have lasted longer in my opinion. One class isn't near enough to feel accomplished."

"The sweets weren't that bad." Hermione rolled her eyes. Severus flicked his eyes back to her, keeping his emotions still. She let her fingers brush against his ear lightly before pressing a quick kiss to his lips and pushed off of him.

"I've got another class to teach." She said, drawing her hand along his cheek and twiddled his nose. He scrunched it up as she made her way to the back of the classroom. "I'll see you at dinner?" She asked. Severus sucked in a large breath before giving up and nodding. Hermione smiled once more at him before she left. Severus watched the doors as they closed, not feeling any better about the situation even after learning Hermione and Tommy weren't a thing. He still had a grudge against Everett, deciding on the fact that he'd make up such lies about the two of them, and figured he would take his time plotting his revenge.


	16. Chapter 16

In 1692 the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy had been implied, and almost every year since then, a celebration fair had taken place. It was a way for witches and wizards to join together, remembering who they were exactly, and why the importance of their segregation had been important.

Severus scowled, not enjoying the large crowd and rather wanting to spend a quiet evening at home. Lucius wouldn't hear of it, and Hermione had wanted to go, being sure to tell him that if he didn't join her, she'd be all alone. So, as it were, there he was and he had to fake a smile when the tickets were purchased and they entered through the gates and pressed to the fountain where they would wait for Lucius and his family to arrive.

Severus could remember the first time he had come, being a school boy, ditching Hogwarts with those he would eventually join ranks with. He had found it charming then, the sounds, sights, and smells were a more welcome sight than staring at the dungeon walls. The same nostalgic feeling returned the moment those same smells and sounds had hit him, though the amount of people had already started to bother him. He turned to Hermione who had opened a pamphlet that came with the tickets and was reading it intently.

"They have a mirror maze!" She exclaimed. "And dragon rides!"

Severus smiled painfully. Mirror mazes? Dragon rides? All he really wanted to do was visit the nearest refreshment stand and get sloshed. He hadn't expected to be going on any rides, feeling too old, or maybe even too boring to partake in such things, but when she begged him to join her, he found it hard to say no. Her smile was so yearning, the twinkle in her eye made it hard for him to suggest that maybe Draco, or even Narcissa would be better matched to her needs.

"Severus!" Lucius' voice cut above the noise of the crowd and he looked toward the front gate where Lucius, Draco and Narcissa were entering. They were dressed far nicer than they needed to be, but that was the way of the Malfoy's and no one seemed to pay much attention to it, too wrapped up in the goings-on around them to even bother noticing them. Severus obliged Narcissa with a hug and an endearing kiss on her cheek, a comment on how lovely she looked, before shaking hands with Lucius.

"Glad you could make it." Lucius said before turning to Hermione. "And you're looking splendid tonight, Miss Granger. It's great you could join us."

"My pleasure." Hermione said in return, though she sounded, still, slightly apprehensive toward him. Draco remained impartial to it all, his hands shoved into his pockets, only gave a nod and a forced himself to look adapted.

"Tell me, what are we to see first." Lucius lifted a hand to his right. "There's the Magical Blooming Garden? Or perhaps-" he raised his left hand "-if you're feeling adventurous, Bumper Brooms..."

Severus passed his eyes over Hermione who paled slightly at the last suggestion, but could do nothing to keep Lucius and Draco from heading in that direction. Narcissus followed behind them, Hermione grabbing a hold of Severus' arm tightly.

"You can opt to sit this one out if you wish." Severus spoke softly, knowing that there would be endless prompting from either Lucius or Draco to have her join if they heard.

"Can I ride with you?" Hermione asked. "I don't want to spoil the fun."

"I don't see why not." Severus covered Hermione's hand. "I don't believe you've ever said why you don't like broomsticks."

"It's not that I don't like them." Hermione paused, sighing. "I just prefer to keep my feet...and anything I'm sitting on for that matter on the ground."

"Shocking." Thinking of Hermione as anything other than grounded was nearly impossible. "Scared of heights." Severus stated, teasingly.

"Am not." Hermione replied. Severus smirked. They had reached the remarkably short line and were being ushered through to a space where a line of brooms were stacked along a wall.

"Are too." Severus said, grabbing a broom and floated it in front of them. He swung a leg over, helping Hermione on in front of him, wrapping his arms tightly around to to help make her feel secure. She was shivering slightly and squealed when Severus kicked off the ground gently, enough to put only a few inches of ground between the dirt and their feet. A pock-marked male looking no more than fifteen waved a wand at them, producing a slightly obtrusive orb around them.

"You can bump and push, but please keep it friendly." He ordered, and within a few minutes, the wooden doors that entered into the small arena opened and their group flew out into it.

They were blind-sided immediately, Lucius grinned over his shoulder as he zoomed ahead of them. Severus recovered and pressed forward, his broom picking up speed. Hermione had already closed her eyes, her knuckles were white as she gripped the broom. Severus weaved in and out of a few strangers before catching up to Lucius and took a turn sharp enough to push the bristles of his broom into Lucius, causing him to wobble and fly into the wall. Hermione cringed, expecting Lucius to seek immediate revenge, but only saw him burst into laughter before she couldn't watch any further. She caught a glimpse of Severus smiling.

For the most part, after the rides had been exhausted and they could no longer stand the thought of any more food, Severus would have to say the night had been a success. Though Hermione still seemed to be on her guard, she had lightened up, accepting that being around him also meant that she had to put up with the Malfoy's. He was surprised as Lucius directed them into a line that led into a small tent reserved for a crystal ball reading, that Hermione didn't put up a fight.

"It's Madame Carlotta." Lucius explained. "She's supposed to be a true Seer, even read for Merlin if you want to believe it."

Hermione had smiled kindly at this, though Severus could tell she was far from believing. They waited their turn as Lucius and Narcissa entered the tent, Draco opting out of the reading in favor of flirting with a blonde haired girl a few meters away from the line.

"Are you enjoying the festival?" Severus asked while they waited.

"I am." Hermione answered, wrapping her arms around his waist and nestled her forehead against his chest. "It's the most fun I've had in a while."

Severus wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in tightly. He had to agree, the past couple of hours had been joyful. They remained content in silence until Lucius and Narcissa had reappeared, Hermione hesitant in letting go, but they eventually made their way in.

The inside of the tent had been lit by candles, clear crystals hung from the sides, and one small, round table with a glowing crystal sphere upon glass sat on the table. An elderly lady with a friendly face beckoned them in, two chairs magically pulling up to the table for them to sit in. Severus offered a chair to Hermione first before sitting down, himself.

"What an honor." Madame Carlotta had said, her voice breathy and wheezing with every word. "Tell me what you will have. Cards? Palms? Wait...no. Skeptics in the presence of Madame Carlotta will benefit best from the power of the third eye."

Hermione and Severus exchanged glances as Madame Carlotta closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. When she opened them again, her eyes seemed to glow, turning a milky white color, and she fastened them on Hermione.

"A lonely life with choices, I see. Listen to your heart, as your mind will fight to protect it. True love has thee, only if you're willing to accept it." She developed an eerie grin, an intake of breath that rattled, was cut off sharply when she continued speaking. "Faithful friends surround, that I don't need to tell, but games abound you should be warned, a facade doth sell."

Hermione looked as if she was fighting back laughter. Severus, having listened to her paled, turning starch white as Madame Carlotta's eyes snapped over to him.

"A traitor once you were, but for love you kept your word. A life saved for one you lost, a pattern does occur. You fear failure, a union down the drain, if you're not honest to your gain. The hook you're after, a game wrongly played, can only be amended with sincerity, promises obeyed."

Severus licked his lips nervously. He stole a glance to Hermione who seemed to be enjoying his misery. He couldn't take anymore, scared that the old woman would say something that would catch Hermione's attention if she hadn't said something already, and stood nodding a silent thank you, and left the tent with Hermione closely on his heels. Lucius and Narcissa had brightened intently upon their exit, but Severus didn't give them a chance as he quickly strode past them and headed toward the exit. Hermione had kept behind him, though she was at a jog and after they had reached the gates of the festivities, had finally gotten him to stop.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"Leaving." Severus stated, Hermione looked hurt and he fully stopped just to look at her. "I mean there, the celebration."

"Oh." Hermione pressed her lips together, looked back over her shoulder from the direction they came. "Was it something to do with the reading?" She asked.

It had everything to do with the reading and Severus only hoped that for once, Hermione would not prove herself as smart as she was and dwell into the deeper meaning behind the old crone's words. Hermione let air escape her lips and she rolled her eyes.

"Obviously she was playing on what she already knows about you." Hermione had begun laughing. "As private as you are, you're not a stranger, especially in a place like this."

"As is obvious." Severus flashed a glance back to the gate, not wishing to be searched out by any Malfoy member, and quickly grabbed Hermione's hand.

"The only part I didn't get was about the hook she was speaking of." Hermione asked sounded rather curious.

"I'm as clueless as you are." Severus answered, a little too quickly to be believable which drew a raised eyebrow from Hermione.

"Right." She said slowly. "A hook can mean anything, really. An actual hook? No...that sounds a bit too bland for her cryptic delivery." Hermione looked to Severus, but he kept his eyes forward. "An addiction of some sort?" Hermione bit her lip. "What does that have to do with sincerity and promises though?"

Severus had clenched his jaw, it was too easy just to wish that Hermione wouldn't dwell on it all. Well practiced in keeping a stoic expression, he fell upon that to not give anything away and in his own thinking couldn't help but wonder if Lucius had said anything to Madame Carlotta, struck any kind of a deal with her to bring up the situation.

"Maybe you're attempting to catch something, like hooking it in?" Hermione was looking at him again, and Severus concentrated on a spot in the distance to stare at. She poked at his ribs. "That's it, isn't it? It makes sense. You can only obtain it if you're faithful to whatever it is you've promised." Her forehead creased. "It's ironic though, isn't it? Both our readings mentioned games...games abound you should be warned, a facade doth sell...a game wrongly played. It's almost like our readings are linked toge-"

"-Marry me." Severus spat, unable to listen any longer and feeling as though she was getting a little too close to uncovering his underlying plans. The words came out faster than he could stop them, and were certainly not the words he wanted to say, but it had happened and he was unable to take them back. Hermione had frozen in her step, Severus almost being yanked back as her hand tightened on his and she stared at him in confusion. He could feel his face drain of color at that moment. Her hand slowly released pressure until it fell away from his. He didn't blame her for taking those few, slow steps backward, and didn't rush after her as she turned, very much in shock and disappeared into the trees. He felt the same way and knew that the unexpectedness of the question had garnered some time alone for the both of them.

A/N: Finally a new chapter for this story, eh?! Thank you all for hanging in there with me! For those of you unaware, I started writing this chapter and then a string of deaths happened to people near and dear which made it hard to keep the comic relief tones flowing so I had to place this story on the back burner, but I'm finally feeling more upbeat! It also made it hard with the deaths of our wonderful Bowie and Rickman. Bowie's Goblin King was (and still is), the personality I based Lucius off of in this story which also dampened the progress I had made at the beginning of the year when I was dabbling in continuing this chapter. Let's hope the rest of 2016 won't be as bad as the start. And hopefully I'll be able to get this story back on the road!


	17. Chapter 17

Lucius sat in his high backed chair, one leg balanced on the other, his fingers covering his mouth as he watched Severus pace back and fourth before him. He hadn't understood a word that came from the man, mainly because anything that came out of Severus had been noise and only that. From what he could gather, he and Hermione were on the rocks again, or so Severus made it seem.

Severus turned when he met a wall, marched forward, turned again, and stopping when he was right in front of Lucius, gave him an incredulous look raising his arms up to his sides, flapped his jaw, and let out a growl. He grabbed his face and pulled it so far down he was surprised it didn't come cleanly off his skull.

"As amusing as this is, I am still unable to conceive your pantomime." Lucius spoke through his fingers. "Would you mind stopping for a moment and explaining to me what it is so I could react accordingly?"

Severus' hands returned to his sides with a whack and he bent his knees, his body bending backwards and he let out a strained mewl as he fought to piece together his words.

"I messed up. I proposed on a whim, out of bloody no where and she left."

"You...proposed?" Lucius asked.

"Just left! She left! Not a word. I can't blame her, of course, the timing was absolutely not right, but there's no doubt about it. I. Messed. Up." Severus searched for a chair to fall into, and not seeing one, sufficed to burry his hands deep within his arm pits and continue pacing, though not as widely as he did before, his head hung low and he looked sheepishly to Lucius.

"You proposed!" Lucius said again, this time bounding to his feet to grab his friend by the shoulders. "It's not the end of the world, at least you planted the seed of interest, yeah?"

Severus shrugged him off.

"The seed of disinterest is more like it."

"Oh come now, Severus. From what I gather the girl is smitten with you. Absolutely smitten."

Severus stared at Lucius, and Lucius grinned back at him.

"I doubt she's through with you as much as you expect she is. We just have to go about this delicately." Now Lucius was pacing. Severus, spotting the empty chair took residence in it, an arm heavy on one of the arm rests and he buried his face in his palm.

"Without a doubt you have to apologize. Explain that you found her so intriguing at that moment, so perfect, that you just had to ask." Lucius seemed to be speaking to the carpet with the intensity he was staring into it.

"Apologize?" Severus asked.

"She's the bane of your existence, the flame of your candle which is your life and without her you cannot burn."

"A candle?" Severus peeked through his fingers looking utterly mortified at Lucius' words. Lucius stopped for a moment to look at Severus and nodded heatedly.

"Oh yes. A candle. Warm her up, melt her fear away with some poetic prowess of the tongue and you'll have her weak in the knees."

"Melt her fear? Poetic prowess?" Severus waned, an uneasy rumble somewhere in his throat sounded his initial feelings. "I'm sure those work great with you, Mr. Wooer, but might I remind you my poetic prowess has never been developed."

"Poppycock." Lucius said. He advanced quickly on Severus that he jumped back in the chair, pressing his back as far as it would go. Lucius with both hands on the arm rests, hung over Severus, his face inches from his.

"Do you want Granger or not?" Lucius asked at almost a whisper. Severus began to shake his head, feeling as though saying yes would somehow make Lucius angry, and only began nodding it up and down when Lucius strongly nodded his own to coax the answer out of him.

"Y-yes, I mean of course I want her."

"And you'll do anything to settle her qualms?"

"I-I-think so, yes?"

"You think so?" Lucius let up on him, though Severus remained back in the chair.

"That's not good enough. You have to be sure, you have to be one-hundred percent certain it's what you want."

"It is, I do." Severus answered sounding much more honest with himself.

"Better..." Lucius was wincing. "Let's try that one more time. Will you do what it takes to get back in her good graces?"

"Yes." Severus said this time as upbeat as he could make it before faltering. "But does it have to be with poetry?"

...

Even the students could tell something was wrong as Severus had entered the classroom without his usual try at intimidation, and then proceeded to calmly tell them to read their textbooks quietly. A few of them had sniffed at the air as he filled a few minutes pacing up and down each row of the Dark Arts classroom, catching a whiff of the spicy cologne Severus was urged to wear by Lucius. A few of them had pointed out that his hair wasn't nearly as greasy as it had looked the last time they had seen him, and the whispers of Severus' personal hygiene fell upon his deaf ears.

Compliment her, Lucius had said, be at her mercy, let her tell you how to remedy it all, and because of it, Severus found it hard to concentrate on keeping the class orderly. He was inside his own mind, dwelling deep within for any resources he could possibly besiege upon Hermione for forgiveness. The way it was going, Severus felt as if he was back at square one and that even making eye contact with her would mess him up, thwarting his tries.

Lucius had been kind enough to write down a few lines for him to use should he need to as he surely would, and when he was sure the class wasn't looking, would pull the little slip of parchment from his sleeve and read over one at random, push the parchment back into his sleeve and make one loop around the classroom and try to remember it. This gave him more the appearance of a walking zombie muttering unspoken words than the professor he should have been, catching the notes that were being passed, stopping the students who had pulled out another classes homework to finish.

The lunch hour came faster than he wanted and had almost convinced himself that staying cooped up in his classroom was the better choice until Peeves had made an entrance. Not having the patience to deal with the poltergeist, Severus made his way to the lounge and immediately regretted it.

"I come in peace." Tommy Everett approached, his hands in the air to show they were empty. "No wand, I can assure you your coffee and robes are quite safe." He thrust a hand at Severus who only wrinkled his nose at it. He didn't enjoy their last meeting and he was quite certain he wouldn't enjoy this one either.

"As much as you'd love to chat, I've only come to find Miss Granger." Severus droned. "Do you by chance know where she might be this hour?"

"Ah yes. The belle of Hogwarts. I believe she's in the Great Hall. Saw her dodge in there on my way here." Everett lifted an eyebrow. "What business have you with her?"

"My own." Severus quickly snipped. His eyes widened as Everett raised his hands in defense and laughed.

"Alright, alright, I get it." Everett snorted. "Only curious." Picking a stale doughnut off of a tray that sat on the counter, he waved it in the air. "Oh! Nearly forgot. Positions for the student-teacher Quidditch game have been posted. I believe you're a beater, I hope your swinging arm isn't rusty."

Severus hummed, uninterested.

"I'll be a chaser." Everett beamed a wide smile. "Played a bit for uni, but never took it seriously enough to go pro, if you know what I mean."

"You just did it all, didn't you?" Severus asked, dryly.

"Well, I tried." Everett replied, taking a bite of his doughnut, making a face as he chewed. He quickly reached for his cup of coffee and took a sip. Severus took this small chance to flip around, attempting to leave while he had his mouth full, but was pushed back into the room as people began entering. Almost tripping over Flitwick, Severus managed to hold his robes aside, then push himself against the wall smiling slightly as Sinistra and Minerva entered. It wasn't too long before Hermione followed. They made eye contact, Hermione's cheeks reddening before she diverted her eyes. Everett pointing out her arrival only made the color deepen.

"Look no further, Severus, she has arrived."

There was a momentary pause in which the whole room stopped and stared at the both of them before resuming their business. Hermione had stopped however, and turned toward Severus, looking up at him now with a forced politeness about her. Severus hesitated, having looked at Everett as if to kill him, then softened when he looked to Hermione.

"Might we have a word?" He asked. Hermione glanced around her as if pleading for someone to give her a reason to stay, but nodded nonetheless and followed Severus from the room. They walked down the corridors which seemed to fill with students every time Severus tried to speak, and then emptied when he gave up. Hermione didn't seem to notice this slight inconvenience though as she had reminded him he wanted to speak with a small, 'What did you want to say?' Just as Severus had concocted an excuse to leave this for later. He dug through his mind, wishing the words he had practiced all morning would come easy to him instead of leaving him grasping as they were doing.

"I...well I just wanted to..." He reached slyly in his sleeve for the little scrap of paper as if feeling it would jolt his words to work, and paled. It was not there and judging by the look growing on Hermione's face, he didn't have much time to try and find it.

"The other night." He started. "I'm-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that."

"Oh." Hermione wilted a little.

"I don't know why I did."

Hermione nodded seeming somehow even more silent than before and looked forward.

"I'm sorry." Severus said again. Hermione shrugged.

"It's...It's okay." She replied softly.

He could practically hear Lucius' voice screaming at him to say something more, but his mouth was dry and he felt hopeless without the little slip of paper that he tried feeling for again, this time bending his hand inward, his fingers curling around his palm into his sleeve. It was gone, no sign of it having climbed further inward but was just as well.

"I have to get back to class." Hermione said, slowing only slightly as a fork in the corridor came up.

"Right, yes. Right." Severus said, nodding again, and watched as she left before cursing himself and his cowardice under his breath.

News had seemed to spread that Severus had lacked his usual stand-for-nothing tone that when his last class had started, the amount of pent up frustration he had with himself had unleashed two-fold. Those students expecting to have an easy class could do nothing more but freeze, surprised in their spots as Severus stood at the back of the classroom angrily spitting out the lesson, even showing annoyance to a young Hufflepuff who had blown his nose halfway through the class.

"I'm sorry, Professor." The boy whispered, and Severus visibly fought with himself to not order a detention upon the boy, choosing instead to return to the dark, back corner and continue his lecture.

By the time the class was almost through, Severus had made up his mind to swallow what doubt he had, march straight up to Hermione using the loathing he felt now as momentum to properly explain himself and ask for her forgiveness instead of standing there sputtering. Poetry and romance out the window, he'd act upon his own personality and push Lucius' advice far from his mind.

Class ended, and Severus didn't wait for his classroom to empty out before he squared his shoulders and marched through the corridors to Hermione's classroom, imagining that he'd burst through the doors, proclaim his feelings, and have her back before that night's feast could appear on the tables of the Great Hall, but there were voices drifting out from an open door. Hermione was not alone.

"-if you wouldn't mind that is."

Severus recognized Everett's voice at once before he spied him through the door. Instantly, his lip curled and his breath held as he watched.

"Of course I wouldn't. Miss Travis is well ahead, she can afford to miss a class." Hermione had her back toward Everett and the door and was shuffling through papers on her desk. She gathered them in her hands, gave them a tap on the table to stack them nicely and turned around just as Everett leaned against the table in the spot beside her.

"Forgive me for saying, and stop me if it makes you feel uncomfortable...but you're as pretty as a sunrise over a cornfield today." He grinned then shook his head. Hermione had been shocked, as Severus noticed, and she sputtered an awkward 'thank you,' adjusting the papers against her hip. Severus could only stare having heard that line before. It had been written on a tiny slip of paper that had curiously gone missing. He centered in on Everett, pulling his lips into a thin line and didn't notice that Hermione had seen him standing there and made her way toward him. She had tugged on his arm as she passed.

"Walk with me." She whispered so only he could hear. He turned, his head being the last part of him to vacillate around, away from Everett who only sent a wink as a parting gesture.

"Can you believe the nerve of him?" Hermione said when they were away from the door.

"Yeah." Severus agreed.

"Compliments are nice, always welcome, but when they're that corny..." Hermione paused for effect, the pun sliding off Severus as he was still trying to figure out how it was the line composed for him to use had just come out another mans mouth.

"Oh, come on, Severus. That was pure gold. Corny?"Hermione laughed. "I know you heard him."

Severus forced a crooked smile at which Hermione turned her head slightly.

"You don't need to be jealous." She said. Severus shook his head.

"I'm not jealous."

"Right." She bit on her cheek and walked a few steps before speaking again. "About earlier, our talk-if you can call it that?"

"What about it?" Severus winced as she brought it up and braced for a let down.

"I'm sorry if I seemed a bit...short." She sighed heavily. "I just don't know how to react to it right now-I mean I just wasn't expecting it."

Severus nodded softly. "You're not angry?" He asked sounding more concerned than worried.

"Angry? Merlin's no. Flattered, and appreciative but..." She was biting her lip looking decisive at what she wanted to say. She finally heaved a sigh. "It was just a question asked too fast." She looked at him pleadingly. "Please don't take my denial the wrong way, I just don't want to rush into things, we've been seeing each other for only a few months and-"

"-There's no need to explain yourself, I understand perfectly." Severus was relieved to say the least, he didn't have to worry that his slip of the tongue had turned him revolting. Hermione brushed her fingers against his cheek.

"There's a meteor shower next week if you're interested." She smiled. "Mark it off your bucket list...if you want to go."

Severus' lips curled slightly in a smile and he gave a nod, watching as she disappeared into the waves of students rushing to their next classes.


	18. Chapter 18

Roses, baby's breath, daisy's, snap dragons, carnations, some yellow things with petals that drooped and swayed with the slightest of breeze, geraniums, lily's and petunias, and some horrid looking green stalks that curled their tops under and under until it was practically buried under the soil when touched...all of them plus more he hadn't even looked at seemed too pathetic to send, too cliche to give to a woman so unique.

"I still don't understand." Severus said, shaking his head as he tore his eyes away from the flowers and looked to Lucius, "What is it with girls and flowers? How is this-" he absentmindedly held up a wilted leaf, "-supposed to make amends when they're just going to die within a week?"

Lucius shrugged, not really listening to Severus. His nose was wrinkling at a flower hidden behind a glass bell, having lifted the top only slight and released a stench reminiscent of rotting flesh and strawberries. He gagged once and stepped away quickly.

"It just makes them feel good, I suppose." Lucius brushed his hands together, lifted his fingers to his nose and smelled the tips of them, praying the smell didn't stick to him. When satisfied the odor was only caught in his nose, he turned to Severus, clasped his hands at his waist, and gave a quick look around.

"You wouldn't mind hurrying this up a little do you? I told Narcissa that I'd be prompt."

"Expecting you for dinner?"

"She has some distant relatives coming in." He sounded almost bored with the news. Severus groaned.

"Remember what happened last time? I think a bouquet or two might do you some good as well." Severus said with a smirk. The last time Lucius had family over it had made a small headline in the Daily Prophet, the Ministry spent a week setting unsuspecting Muggles right, and he would have sworn a new law would have been passed prohibiting the Wizarding World from owning a shuttlecock. Glancing to his right, Severus saw a small bouquet of three Peony's mixed with a few sprigs of ivy.

"As good as any, I guess." He said, and took them to the counter where he paid quickly, accepting the clerk to take them from his hand and place it in a box which was tied to an post owl's leg and sent off.

"No stuffed animal?" Lucius asked, holding up an obnoxious plush elephant who's trunk waved up and down, and when its foot was pressed, exploded with confetti and glitter, which hovered in the air before painfully slowly falling to the ground. The glitter clung to Severus and there was no amount of shaking he could do nor spell he could use to rid himself of the annoying sparkling effect. Lucius was hiding a fit of laughter as Severus glowered at him.

"You'll pay for that." Severus warned, and winced when they stepped outside into the light where the sun only illuminated him more.

"It's not that bad." Lucius said, pulling an even deeper growl from Severus. "Can't you change?"

"Unfortunately not. I've got to be at Hogwarts in ten minutes."

"Eager to see Miss Granger's acceptance of your little gift, eh?" Lucius nudged him with his elbow. "I promise she'll love it."

"I only wish it were that." Severus shook his head. "I've been talked into joking the teacher-student Quittich match."

"Teacher-student Quidditch match? I wasn't aware there was such a thing."

"Unfortunately this year there is." Wrinkling his nose, Severus dusted his arms a few more times. "Have to put up with that Everett bloke for the duration of the game."

"You can't back out?" Lucius asked. Severus shook his head.

"Minerva's counting on me. She's been so excited to get me into a Beater position since I took the substitute job."

"My apologies." Lucius was smiling. "I'm truly sorry I'll miss it, to be the most amusing thing this year, I'm sure."

"Consider yourself lucky." Severus mumbled, glancing down at his robes again. He was nudged suddenly by Lucius, who directed with his chin to look down the lane. Severus searched for a few seconds until he saw what Lucius had seen a few stores down and heading toward them with a purpose, a hand wildly waving, her other arm filled with a large canvas bag. Poking out of the canvas bag were wildly thrashing tentacles that grasped at everything within its reach. Dorine Peesy was grinning from ear to ear, her feet rushing as fast as possible to catch up with them. Lucius gave a quick look to Severus, an amused twinge to his lip, but empathy in his eyes.

"It's a pity I couldn't remain to witness this. I must go or Narcissa will have my neck." And he vanished with a slight pop. Severus' lip lifted in annoyance and he glanced over, seeing Dorine had advanced on him to within an arms reach. He began to turn to apparate, hoping she'd understand his sudden departure, and left the row of stores behind.

He plopped back into existence just outside the gates of Hogwarts, never more glad to be in its presence, that is, until Dorine's voice sounded beside him and he was suddenly conscience of her hand on his arm.

"Severus!" She exclaimed with a laugh. "Had me worried there for a minute, thought I wasn't going to latch on in time." She removed her hand and straightened her hat which seemed to swallow her head in an abundance of wildly colored, hideous feathers.

"Do you like it?" She asked, turning her head this way and that, showing off her hat with pride. "It once belonged to my great, great grandmother. The family wanted to nick it after she passed, but I couldn't ever let them do such a thing."

"It suits you well." Severus strained at the compliment.

"You think so?" Dorine smiled, blushing all the same, and then smacked at the tentacles in the bag as the wrapped themselves around her wrist.

"A Gripping Paradedius-" She lifted her bag slightly. "You see I've been having mites on my slugs that go after my Walking Plants, and though I don't mind the slugs so much, the mites have been making them extremely uncomfortable, which makes them quite vicious and, well, as any good botani-"

"-I hope for a speedy recovery for your walking plants." Severus interrupted. "If you don't mind, I am actually running very late for a Quidditch match." Without waiting for a reaction, he stepped towards the gates that swung open on their own, and began his walk to the castle.

"If you don't mind, I think I'll join you. It's been far too long since I've attended a game and dare say Hufflepuff needs all the support they can get." Dorine followed closely behind Severus who was wincing at her willingness to join him.

"I beg your pardon, but Hufflepuff will not be in this match, at least not in full." He hurried his steps, Dorine raced to keep up.

"Have they not made it in the final rounds? That's a pity. They were always sharp when I attended. There was this one time when Slytherin had the quaffle and..."

Severus mentally closed her out. The pitch was in sight, his only thought was to concentrate hard on getting there and with any luck, leaving Dorine to watch from the stands. He'd rather her not be there at all, but seeing as she was nearly clutching his arm again knew that would be impossible.

"...yet I believe it all came down to lack of experience. But what do I know, I'm clumsy on a broom. Surprised I passed flying lessons to tell you the truth-"

"-Severus!" Someone was calling out to him, but he did not hear over Dorine's babbling and trying to block her out.

"-even when I was little, oh sure I had my fair share of toy brooms, the ones that didn't float more than a foot above the ground and I still managed a broken arm-"

"-Severus! Wait!-" They called again, and if Severus had heard it, he cared not to stop, the players quarters were just ahead, he could see the entrance clearly now.

"-don't ask me how, that I do not know, too young of course. Can't remember. But I can remember the Medi-Witch that took care of me. She was nice enough, but had this extremely large wart just above her upper lip and being so young, why it just scared the Hippogriff right out of me. Could you blame me though? Just imagine."

"Severus!" This time he was grabbed, stopped from advancing to safety and he swung around, an eye twitching, doing nothing to pull back his annoyance from a worried looking Headmistress.

"My aunt had a wart like hers, actually. Yes, just like that, but it was on the top-back of her right shoulder. I didn't very much care for her, she was always angry, always pushing and ordering. Now that I think about it, it's no mystery on why I was frightened of that nurse after all is it? Association, you see, being that young I didn't know that not everyone with a mole like that wasn't angry." Dorine stopped talking suddenly observing Minerva and her eyes narrowed, possibly searching her face for any warts, and when she didn't see any, shook her head slightly. "Perfect example, Professor, perfect example. See here, her face is wary free and as stern as she constantly looks-"

Minerva gasped.

"-I was neither scared nor felt she had anger within her to match that of my dear aunt Mathilda."

"Minerva, you remember Dorine Peesy, of course." Severus introduced her through gritted teeth. Minerva's face scrunched for a second, then gave way to a short bout of fear, before she covered it up with that 'sternness' Dorine had pointed out.

"Of course. Miss Peesy. How could I forget?" A tight lipped smile crossed her face and her attention was turned back onto Severus. "Professors are meeting in the entrance hall. If you would come with me, please." She reached out a hand, grabbing Severus' arm, and gently tugged him to follow. "Miss Peesy, the entrance to the stands is there if you remember correctly." She gave the order strongly, and before waiting to see if she'd make her way to it, trudged back across the castle grounds to the entrance hall inside Hogwarts.

...

A/N: I did want to make this chapter longer, but the flow was nicer by splitting it up. Thank you again for your patience between updates on this, I do promise to finish it, and if you haven't read my updates the reason for that being I don't have this story plotted. I'm horrible at pantsing a story, only being able to write it when the moment strikes and this being such a unique feel, I don't want to force myself to ruin that. I've tried plotting it down, but it always ends up changing the story entirely so the best thing for it is to let it linger and see what the characters have planned for themselves. I do have half of another chapter already written, so the wait for the next update shouldn't be as long hopefully! Thank you again!


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